<% 



CAMP AND TRAIL 




Krom ;i painting by ictn.uiu Luiigien 

The Home of the "Red Gods" 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



BY 

STEWART EDWARD WHITE 

Author of "The Blazed Trail," " The Pass," etc. 



Frontispiece in color by Fernand Lungren 

and many other illustrations 

from photographs, etc. 



Garden City New York 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1911 



* 

' \<\l 



Copyright, 1906, 1907, by 
THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 



Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. 



All rights reserved. 



X 



\ 



PREFACE 

mFTER considerable weighing of the 
/\ pros and cons I have decided to 
include the names of firms where cer- 
tain supplies may be bought. I realize that 
this sort of free advertisement is eminently 
unjust to other worthy houses handling the 
same lines of goods, but the case is one of 
self-defense. In The Forest I rashly of- 
fered to send to inquirers the name of the 
firm making a certain kind of tent. At 
this writing I have received and answered 
over eleven hundred inquiries. Since the 
publication of these papers in The Outing 
Magazine, I have received hundreds of 
requests for information as to where this, 
that, or the other thing may be had. I have 
tried to answer them all, but to do so has 
been a tax on time I would not care to 
repeat. Therefore I shall try in the f ollow- 

vii 



PREFACE 

ing pages to give the reader all the practical 
information I possess, even though, as 
stated, I may seem unduly to advertise the 
certain few business houses with which I have 
had satisfactory dealings. It is needless to 
remark that I am interested in none of these 
firms, and have received no especial favors 
from them. 






Vlll 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTE 


R 


PAGE 


I 


The Wilderness Traveler 


3 


II 


Common Sense in the Wilderness 


23 


III 


Personal Equipment . 


35 


IV 


Personal Equipment (Continued) 


63 


V 




79 


VI 


The Cook Outfit .... 


97 


VII 




115 


VIII 




135 


IX 


Horse Outfits 


. 149 


X 




169 


XI 


Horses, Mules, Burros . 


203 


XII 




. 221 






233 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The home of the Red Gods . . . (Frontispiece) 

OPPOSITE 
PAGE 

On the trail (from a painting by N. C. Wyeth) . 16 

The Author doing a little washing on his own account 32 

" Mountain on mountain towering high, and a 

valley in between " ...... 48 

One of the mishaps to be expected ... 64 

"Bed in the bush with stars to see" ... 80 

"We may live without friends, we may live without 
books, but civilized man cannot live without 
cooks" ....... 



When you quit the trail for a day's rest 
In the heat of the day's struggle 
Nearing a crest and in sight of game 
A downward journey .... 
In midday the shade of the pines is inviting 
Getting ready for another day of it 



104 
120 
144 

160 
176 

208 

224 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 



M 



CHAPTER I 

THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

ANY people have asked me what, Q ua iifira' 



all things considered, is the most 
valuable quality a wilderness trav- 
eler can possess. Always I have replied 
unhesitatingly; for no matter how useful or 
desirable such attributes as patience, cour- 
age, strength, endurance, good nature, and 
ingenuity, may prove to be, undoubtedly a 
man with them but without the sense of 
direction, is practically helpless in the wilds. 
A sense of direction, therefore, I should 
name as the prime requisite for him who 
would become a true woodsman, depending 
on himself rather than on guides. The fac- 
ulty is largely developed, of course, by much 
practice; but it must be inborn. Some men 
possess it; others do not — just as some men 
have a mathematical bent while to others 

3 



tion 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

figures are always a despair. It is a sort of 

extra, having nothing to do with criterions 

of intelligence or mental development, like 

the repeater movement in a watch. A 

highly educated or cultured man may lack 

it; the roughest possess it. Some who 

have never been in the woods or mountains 

acquire in the space of a vacation a fair 

facility at picking a way; and I have met 

a few who have spent their lives on the 

prospect trail, and who were still, and always 

would be, as helpless as the newest city 
of Direc- 

dweller. It is a gift, a talent. If you have 
its germ, you can become a traveler of the 
wide and lonely places. If you have it not, 
you may as well resign yourself to guides. 

The sense of direction in its simplest and 
most elementary phase, of course, leads a 
man back to camp, or over a half- forgotten 
trail. The tenderfoot finds his way by little 
landmarks, and an attempt to remember [ 
details. A woodsman adds to this the gen- 
eral "lay" of the country, the direction its 
streams ought to flow, the course the hills 

4 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

must take, the dip of strata, the growth of 
trees. So if the tenderfoot forgets whether 
he turns to right or left at a certain half- 
remembered burnt stub, he is lost. But if 
at the same point the woodsman's memory 
fails him, he turns unhesitatingly to the left, 
because he knows by all the logic of nature's 
signboards that the way must be to the left. 
A good mountaineer follows the half-oblit- J 1 ®? 6 

° of Direc- 

erated trails as much by his knowledge of tion 
where a trail must go, as by the sparse indi- 
cations that men have passed that way. I 
have traveled all day in the Sierras over 
apparently virgin country. Yet every few 
hours we would come on the traces of an 
old trail. We were running in and out of 
it all day ; and at night we camped by it. 

That is, as I have said, elementary. It 
has to do with a country over which your 
woodsman has already traveled, or about 
which he knows something. In the last 
analysis, however, it means something more. 

The sense of direction will take a man 
through a country of which he knows noth- . 

5 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

ing whatever. He travels by the feel of it, 
he will tell you. This means that his experi- 
ence subconsciously arranges certain factors 
from which the sixth sense we are discussing 
draws certain deductions. A mountaineer, 
for example, recognizes the altitude by the 
vegetation. Knowing the altitude he knows 
also the country formation, and so he can 
tell at once whether the canon before him 
will narrow to an impassable gorge, or re- 
main open enough to admit of passage. 
This in turn determines whether he shall 
choose the ravines or ridges in crossing a 
certain divide, and exactly how he can 
descend on the other side. The example is 
one of the simpler. A good man thus noses 
his way through a difficult country with con- 
siderable accuracy where a tenderfoot would 
become speedily lost. 

But if a sense of direction is the prime 
requisite, thoroughness presses it close. It 
is sometimes very difficult to command the 
necessary patience. At the end of a hard 
day, with the almost moral certainty that the 

6 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

objective point is just ahead, it is easy, 
fatally easy, when the next dim blaze does not 
immediately appear, to say to oneself — "Oh, 
it's near enough" — and to plunge ahead. 
And then, nine times out of ten, you are in 
trouble. "I guess this is all right" has lost you Are 
many a man; and the haste too great to be Ri & h1 
sure — and then again sure — has had many 
fatal results. If it is a trail, then be cer- 
tain you see indications before proceeding. 
Should they fail, then go back to the last 
indication and start over again. If it is new 
country, then pick up every consideration 
in your power, and balance them carefully 
before making the smallest decision. And 
all the time keep figuring. Once having 
decided on a route, do not let the matter 
there rest. As you proceed keep your 
eyes and mind busy, weighing each bit 
of evidence. And if you become suspicious 
that you are on the wrong tack, turn back 
unhesitatingly, no matter how time presses. 
A recent expedition with a fatal termina- 
tion illustrates this point completely. At 

7 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

first sight it may seem invidious to call atten- 
tion to the mistakes of a man who has laid 
down his life in payment for them. But 
it seems to me that the chief value of such 
sad accidents — beyond the lessons of cour- 
age, endurance, comradeship, devotion, and 
beautiful faith — lies in the lesson and warn- 
ing to those likely to fall into the same 
blunders. I knew Hubbard, both at col- 
lege and later, and admire and like him. I 
am sure he would be the first to warn others 
from repeating his error. 

The expedition of which I speak started 
out with the purpose of exploring Labrador. 
As the season is short some haste was neces- 
sary. The party proceeded to the head of a 
certain lake into which they had been told 
they would find a river flowing. They 
found a river, ascended it, were conquered 
by the extreme difficulties of the stream, one 
of the party perished, and the others came 
near to it. 

As for the facts so far : The first thought 
to occur to a man entirely accustomed to 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

wilderness travel would be, is there perhaps 
another stream? another river flowing into 
that lake? Encountering difficulties he 
would become more and more uneasy as to 
that point, until at last he would have 
detached a scout to make sure. 

But mark this further: The party's in- 
formants had told Hubbard that he would 
find the river easily navigable for eighteen 
miles. As a matter of fact the expedition 
ran into shallows and rapids within a half 
mile of the lake. 

To a woodsman the answer would have 
stood out as plain as print. He would have 
retraced his way, explored farther, found 
the right river, and continued. But poor 
Hubbard was in a hurry, and moreover pos- 
sessed that optimistic temperament that so 
endeared him to all who knew him. "They 
must have made a mistake in the distance. 
I guess this is all right," said he, and pushed 
on against difficulties that eventually killed 
him. 

To a man accustomed to exploration such 
9 



Alertness 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

a mistake is inconceivable. Labrador is not 
more dangerous than other wooded northern 
countries ; not so dangerous as the big moun- 
tains ; much safer than the desert. A wrong 
turn in any of these wildernesses may mean 
death. Forty men succumbed to the desert 
last summer. Do not make that wrong turn. 
Be sure. Take nothing for granted — 
either that "they made a mistake in the dis- 
tance," or that " it's probably all right." 
One of the greatest of American wilderness 
travelers knew this — as all wilderness trav- 
elers must — and phrased it in an epigram 
that has become classic. "Be sure you are 
right, and then go ahead," advised Daniel 
Boone. 

I So you do not get lost — barring acci- 
dents — you are safe enough. But to travel 
well you must add to your minor affairs the 
same quality, slightly diluted, perhaps, that 
I have endeavored to describe above. In 
this application it becomes thoroughness and 
smartness. A great many people object 
while camping to keeping things in trirrvjto 

10 » . 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

getting up in the morning, to moving with 
expedition and precision. "Oh, what's the 
use in being so particular!" they grumble, 
"this is supposed to be a pleasure trip." 

Outside the fact that a certain amount Discipline 
of discipline brings efficiency, there is no 
doubt that a slack camp means trouble 
sooner or later. Where things are not 
picked up, something important will sooner 
or later be lost or left behind. Where the 
beginning of the day's journey hangs fire, 
sooner or later night will catch you in a very 
bad place indeed. Where men get in the 
habit of slouching, physically and mentally, 
they become in emergencies unable to sum- 
mon presence of mind, and incapable of 
swift, effective movements. The morale is 
low; and exclusive of the fact that such 
things are an annoyance to the spirit, they 
may in some exceptional occasion give rise 
to serious trouble. Algernon is ten minutes 
slow in packing his horse; and Algernon 
gets well cursed. He is hurt as to the soul, 
and demands of himself aggrievedly how ten 

11 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

minutes can be valued so high. It is not 
the ten minutes as a space of time, but as 
a measure of incompetence. This pack train 
is ten minutes short of what a pack train 
should be; and if the leader's mind is 
properly constructed, he is proportionately 
annoyed. 

Although not strictly germane to a dis- 
cussion of equipments, I am tempted to hold 
up a horrible example. 

One evening we were all sitting around a 
big after-dinner fire at the Forest Super- 
visor's summer camp in the mountains, when 
an outfit drifted in and made camp a few 
hundred yards down stream. After an 
interval the leader of the party came over 
and introduced himself. 

He proved to be a youngish man, with 
curly hair, regular features, a good phy- 
sique, and eyes handsome, but set too close 
together. A blue flannel shirt whose top 
button was unfastened, rolled back to show 
his neck ; a handkerchief was knotted below 
that ; in all his external appearance he leaned 
12 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

toward the foppish-picturesque. This was 
in itself harmless enough. Shortly he began 
to tell us things. He confided that his chief 
ambition was to rope a bear; he related ad- 
ventures in the more southern mountains; 
he stated that he intended to travel up 
through the Minarets and over Agnew's 
Pass, and by way of Tuolumne. This was 
to consume two weeks! Finally he became 
more personal. He told us how President 
Roosevelt when on his Pacific Coast tour 
had spoken to him personally. 

"When the train started," said he, "I ran 
after it as hard as I could with a lot of 
others, but I ran a lot faster and got ahead, 
so the President spoke directly to me — not 
to the crowd, but to met" 

He left us suitably impressed. Next 
morning his camp was astir at five o'clock — 
as was proper considering the strenuous pro- 
gramme he had outlined. About seven our 
friend came over to get his animals, which 
he had turned out in the Supervisor's pas- 
ture over night — ten animals in another 

13 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

man's mountain pasture! We had a shoot- 
ing match, and talked Reserve matters for 
just one hour and twenty minutes. Then 
somebody waked up. 

"I wonder what's become of Jones; let's 
go see." 

We went. Jones was standing dusty in 
'the middle of the corral. In his hand he 
held a short loop not over three feet across. 
This he whirled forward and overhand. 
Occasionally he would cast it at a horse. 
Of course the outraged and astounded ani- 
mal was stricken about the knees, where- 
upon he circulated the confines of the corral 
at speed. 

And the animals! At the moment of our 
Tones and arrival Jones was bestowing attention on 
a dignified and gaunt mule some seventeen 
hands high. I never saw such a giraffe. 
Two about the size of jackasses hovered 
near. One horse's lower lip wabbled ab- 
jectly below a Roman nose. 

We watched a few moments ; then offered 
mildly to "help." Jones, somewhat heated 

14 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

and cross, accepted. The first horse I roped 
I noticed was barefoot. So were the others. 
And the route was over a rough granite and 
snow country. Thus we formed a proces- 
sion, each leading some sort of equine freak. 
It was by now nearly nine o'clock. 

Camp we found about half picked up. 
The other members of the party were nice, 
well-meaning people, but absolutely inexpe- 
rienced in the ways of the wilderness. They 
had innocently intrusted themselves to Jones 
on the strength of his self-made reputation; 
and now undoubtedly were taking all this 
fuss and discomfit quite as part of "rough- 
ing it." 

When we saw them we were stricken with Helping the 
pity and a kindly feeling which Jones had 
failed to arouse, so we turned in to help 
them saddle up. 

Jones was occupied with a small mule 
which he claimed was "bad." He hitched 
said mule to a tree, then proceeded to elevate 
one hind leg by means of a rope thrown over 
a limb. Why he did not simply blindfold 

15 



Tenderfeet 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the animal no one could tell. We looked 
forward with some joy to the throwing of 
the pack-hitches. 

But at this moment a Ranger dashed up 
with news of a forest fire over in the Rock 
Creek country. The Rangers present imme- 
diately scattered for their saddle horses, 
while I took a pack and went in search of 
supplies. 

Shortly after one o'clock I was organized, 
and departed on the trail of the Rangers. 
They had struck over the ridge, and down 
the other side of the mountains. Their 
tracks were easy to follow, and once atop 
the divide I could see the flames and smoke 
of the fire over the next mountain system. 
Desiring to arrive before dark, I pushed 
ahead as rapidly as possible. About half 
way down the mountain I made out dust 
ahead. 

"A messenger coming back for some- 
thing," thought I. 

In ten minutes I was stricken dumb to 
overtake the Jones party plodding trust- 

16 




On the Trail 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

ingly along in the tracks made by the 
Rangers. 

"Well," I greeted them, "what are you 
doing over here? A little off your beat, 
aren't you?" 

The members of the party glanced at 
each other, while Jones turned a dull red. 

"Wrong trail, eh?" said he easily; "where 
does this one go to?" 

"Why, this isn't a trail!" I cried. "Can't 
you see it's just fresh tracks made since 
morning? This will take you to the fire, 
and that's about all. Your trail is miles to 
the north of here." 

For the moment he was crushed. It was 
now too late to think of going back ; a short 
cut was impossible on account of the nature 
of the country. Finally I gave him a direc- 
tion which would cut another trail — not 
where he had intended to go, but at least 
leading to horse feed. Then I bade him 
farewell, and rode on to the fire. 

Long after dark, when hunting for the 
place the boys had camped, I met that 

17 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

deluded outfit moving supperless, homeless, 
lost, like ghosts in the glow of the fire line. 
Jones was cross and snapped at me when 
I asked him if he wasn't seeing a good deal 
of country. But I looked at the tired faces 
of the other members of the party, and my 
heart relented, and I headed them for a 

Them Right i 

* meadow. 

"How far beyond is Squaw Dome?" 
asked Jones as he started. 

"Sixteen miles — about," said I. 

"About eight hours the way you and I 
travel, then," said he. 

"About eight weeks the way you travel," 
amended a Ranger standing near. 

Two days later a shakemaker came to help 
us fight fire. 

"Oh, yes, they passed my place," said he. 
"I went out and tried to tell him he was 
ofF'n the trail, but he waved me aside. 'We 
have our maps,' says he, very lofty." 

Twelve days subsequently I rode a day 
and a half to Jackass Meadow. They told 
us the Jones party just passed! I wonder 

18 



Lesson 



THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER 

what became of them, and how soon their 
barefooted horses got tender. 

Now the tenderfoot one helps out, nor 
makes fun of, for he is merely inexperienced 
and will learn. But this man is in the moun- 
tains every summer. He likewise wishes 
to rope bears. 

No better example could be instanced as ** 
to the value of camp alertness, efficiency, the 
use of one's head, and the willingness to take 
advice. I had with me at the time a younger 
brother whom I was putting through his 
first paces; and Jones was to me invaluable 
as an object lesson. 

The purpose of this chapter is not to tell 
you how to do things, but how to go at them. 
If you can keep from getting lost, and if 
you can keep awake, you will at least reach 
home safe. Other items of mental and 
moral equipment you may need will come 
to you by natural development in the en- 
vironment to which the wild life brings you. 



19 



COMMON SENSE IN THE 
WILDERNESS 



CHAPTER II 

COMMON SENSE IN THE WILDERNESS 

THERE is more danger that a man Overb 
take too much than too little into 
the wilderness. No matter how good 
his intentions may be, how conscientiously 
he may follow advice, or how carefully he 
may examine and re-examine his equip- 
ment, he will surely find that he is carry- 
ing a great many pounds more than his 
companions, the professionals at the busi- 
ness. At first this may affect him but 
little. He argues that he is constructed 
on a different pattern from these men, that 
his training and education are such as to 
have developed in him needs and habits such 
as they have never known. Preconceived 
notions, especially when one is fairly brought 
up in their influence, are most difficult to 
shake off. Since we have worn coats all our 
lives, we include a coat in our list of personal 

23 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

apparel just as unquestionably — even as un- 
thinkingly — as we should include in our cal- 
culations air to breathe and water to drink. 
The coat is an institution so absolutely one 
of man's invariable garments that it never 
even occurs to him to examine into its use 
or uselessness. In like manner no city 
dweller brought up in proximity to laundries 
and on the firm belief that washing should 
be done all at once and at stated intervals 
can be convinced that he can keep clean and 
happy with but one shirt ; or that more than 
one handkerchief is a superfluity. 

Yet in time, if he is a woodsman, and 
really thinks about such affairs instead of 
taking them for granted, he will inevitably 
gravitate toward the correct view of these 
things. Some day he will wake up to the 
fact that he never wears a coat when work- 
ing or traveling ; that about camp his sweater 
is more comfortable; and that in sober fact 
he uses that rather bulky garment as little 
as any article in his outfit. So he leaves it 
home, and is by so much disencumbered. In 

24 



Essentials 



COMMON SENSE 

a similar manner he will realize that with the 
aid of cold-water soap the shirt he wears may 
be washed in one half hour and dried in the 
next. Meanwhile he dons his sweater. A 
handkerchief is laundered complete in a 
quarter of an hour. Why carry extras, then, 
merely from a recollection of full bureau 
drawers ? 

In this matter it is exceedingly difficult 
to be honest with oneself. The best test 
is that of experience. What I have found 
to be of no use to me, may measure the dif- 
ference between comfort and unhappiness 
to another man. Carry only essentials : but 
the definition of the word is not so easy. An 
essential is that which, by each man's indi- 
vidual experience, he has found he cannot 
do without. 

How to determine that? I have elsewhere 

Determine 

indicated 1 a practical expedient, which will Essentials 
however, bear repetition here. When you 
have reached home after your trip, turn your 
duffle bag upside down on the floor. Sepa- 

1 The Forest. 
25 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

rate the contents into three piles. Let pile 
No. 1 include those articles you have used 
every day — or nearly that often ; let pile No. 
2 comprise those you have used but once; 
and pile No. 3 those you have not used at 
all. Now, no matter how your heart may 
yearn over the Patent Dingbat in No. 3, 
shut your eyes and resolutely discard the 
two latter piles. 

Naturally, if you are strong-minded, pile 
No. 1 will be a synonym for your equipment. 
As a matter of fact you will probably not 
be as strong-minded as that. You will argue 
to yourself somewhat in this fashion : 

"Yes, that is all very well; but it was only 
a matter of sheer chance that the Patent 
Dingbat is not in pile No. 1. To be sure, I 
did not use it on this particular trip ; but in 
other conditions I might need it every day." 

So you take it, and keep on taking it, and 
once in a great while you use it. Then some 
day you wake up to two more bits of camp 
philosophy which you formulate to yourself 
about as follows: An article must pay in 
26 



COMMON SENSE 

convenience or comfort for the trouble of its 
transportation; and Substitution, even im- 
perfect, is better than the carrying of special 
conveniences. Then he hurls said Patent 
Dingbat into the nearest pool. 

That hits directly at the weak point of the Patant 
sporting catalogues. Every once in a while 
an enthusiast writes me of some new and 
handy kink he is ready to swear by. It is 
indeed handy ; and if one could pluck it from 
the nearest bush when occasion for its use 
arose, it would be a joy and a delight. But 
carrying it four hundred miles to that occa- 
sion for its use is a very different matter. 
The sporting catalogues are full of very 
handy kinks. They are good to fool with 
and think about, and plan over in the off 
season; but when you pack your duffle bag 
you'd better put them on a shelf. 

Occasionally, but mighty seldom, you will 
find that something you need very much has 
gone into pile No. 3. Make a note of it. 
But do not be too hasty to write it down 
as part of your permanent equipment. 

27 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



You Must 
Not Mind 
Getting Wet 
Sometimes 



The first summer I spent in the Sierras 
I discovered that small noon showers needed 
neither tent nor slicker. So next year I left 
them home, and was, off and on, plenty wet 
and cold. Immediately I jumped to the 
conclusion that I had made a mistake. It 
has not rained since. So I decided that 
sporadic heavy rains do not justify the 
transportation of two cumbersome articles. 
Now when it rains in daytime I don't mind 
getting a little wet — for it is soon over ; and 
at night an adequate shelter can be built of 
the tarpaulin and a saddle blanket. In other 
words the waterproofs could not pay, in the 
course of say three-days' rain in a summer, 
for the trouble of their transportation dur- 
ing four months. 

As I have said, the average man, with the 
best intentions, will not go too light, and 
so I have laid especial emphasis on the neces- 
sity of discarding the unessential. But there 
exists a smaller class who rush to the oppo- 
site extreme. 

We all know the type. He professes an 
28 



COMMON SENSE 
inordinate scorn for comfort of all sorts. If { 

Sort of 

you are out with him you soon discover that Tenderfoot 
he has a vast pride in being able to sleep on 
cobblestones — and does so at the edge of 
yellow pines with their long needles. He 
eats badly cooked food. He stands — or per- 
haps I should say poses — indifferent to a 
downpour when every one else has sought 
shelter. In a cold climate he brings a single 
thin blanket. His slogan seems to be: "This 
is good enough for me!" with the unspoken 
conclusion, "if it isn't good enough for you 
fellows, you're pretty soft." 

The queer part of it is he usually manages - 1 
to bully sensible men into his point of view. 
They accept his bleak camps and voluntary 
hardships because they are ashamed to be 
less tough than he is. And in town they are 
abashed before him when with a superior, 
good-natured, and tolerant laugh he tells the 
company in glee of how you brought with 
you a little pillow-case to stuff with moss. 
"Bootleg is good enough for me!" he cries; 
and every one marvels at his woodsmanship. 

29 



CAMP. AND TRAIL 

As a plain matter of fact this man is the 
worse of two types of tenderfoot. The 
greenhorn does not know better; but this 
man should. He has mistaken utterly the 
problem of the wilderness. The wild life is 
not to test how much the human frame can 
endure — although that often enough hap- 
pens — but to test how well the human wits, 
backed by an enduring body, can answer the 
question of comfort. Comfort means mini- 
mum equipment ; comfort means bodily ease. 
The task is to balance, to reconcile these 
apparently opposing ideas. 

A man is skillful at woodcraft just in 
proportion as he approaches this balance. 
Knowing the wilderness he can be com- 
fortable when a less experienced man would 
endure hardships. Conversely, if a man en- 
dures hardships where a woodsman could 
be comfortable, it argues not his toughness, 
but his ignorance or foolishness, which is 
exactly the case with our blatant friend of 
the drawing-room reputation. 

Probably no men endure more hardships 
30 



COMMON SENSE 

than do those whose professions call them 
out of doors. But they are unavoidable 
hardships. The cowboy travels with a tin 
cup and a slicker; the cruiser with a twenty- 
pound pack ; the prospector with a half blan- 
ket and a sack of pilot bread — when he has 
to. But on round-up, when the chuck wagon 
goes along, the cow-puncher has his "roll"; 
on drive with the wangan the cruiser sends 
his ample "turkey"; and the prospector with a 
burro train takes plenty to keep him comfort- 
able. Surely even the Tough Youth could 
hardly accuse these men of being "soft." 

You must in this matter consider what outfit 
your means of transportation are to be. It 

Correspond 

would be as foolish to confine your outfit for to Means of 
pack horses to the equipment you would tj ™ 
carry on your own back in the forests, as it 
would be to limit yourself to a pack horse 
outfit when traveling across country in a 
Pullman car. When you have horses it is 
good to carry a few — a very few — canned 
goods. The corners of the kyacks will ac- 
commodate them; and once in a blue moon 

31 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Common 
Sense 
Should Rule 



a single item of luxury chirks you up won- 
derfully and gives you quite a new outlook 
on life. So you chuck them in, and are no 
more bothered by them until the psychologi- 
cal moment. 

i On a walking trip, however, the affair is 
different. You can take canned goods, if 
you want to. But their transportation 
would require another Indian; another 
Indian means more grub and more equip- 
ment ; and so at the last you find yourself at 
the head of an unwieldy caravan. You find 
it much pleasanter to cut the canned goods, 
and to strike out with a single companion. 

After all, it is an affair of common sense; 
but even common sense when confronted by 
a new problem, needs a certain directing. 
The province of these articles is to offer that 
direction ; I do not claim that my way is the 
only way, nor am I rash enough to claim it 
is the best way. But it is my way, and if any 
one will follow it, he will be as comfortable 
and as well suited as I am, which is at least 
better than going it blind. 

32 




The author doing a little washing on his own account 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 



CHAPTER III 

PERSONAL EQUIPMENT . 

IN discussion of the details of equip- 
ment, I shall first of all take up in turn 
each and every item you could possibly 
need, whether you intend to travel by horse, 
by canoe, or on your own two feet. Of 
course you will not carry all of these things 
on any one trip. What is permissible for 
horse traveling would be absurd for a walk- 
ing trip ; and some things — such as a water- 
proof duffle bag — which you would need on 
a foot tramp, would be useless where you 
have kyacks and a tarpaulin to protect your 
belongings. Therefore I shall first enumer- 
ate all articles of all three classes of equip- 
ment ; and then in a final summary segregate 
them into their proper categories. 

Long experience by men practically con- Concerning 
cerned seems to prove that a rather heavy 

35 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

felt hat is the best for all around use. Even 
in hot sun it seems to be the most satisfac- 
tory, as, with proper ventilation, it turns the 
sun's rays better even than light straw. Wit- 
ness the Arizona cowboy on his desert 
ranges. You will want a good hat, the best 
in material that money can buy. A cheap 
article sags in the brim, tears in the crown, 
and wets through like blotting paper the 
first time it rains. I have found the Stetson, 
of the five to seven dollar grade, the most 

stetson Hat satisfactory. If it is intended for woods 
the Best 

travel where you are likely to encounter 

much brush, get it of medium brim. In 

those circumstances I find it handy to buy a 

size smaller than usual, and then to rip out 

the sweat band. The friction of the felt 

directly against the forehead and the hair 

will hold it on in spite of pretty sharp tugs 

by thorns and wind. In the mountains or 

on the plains, you can indulge in a wider and 

stiff er brim. Two buckskin thongs sewn on 

either side and to tie under the "back hair" 

will hold it on, even against a head wind. A 

36 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 



test will show you how this can be. A 
leather band and buckle — or miniature cinch 
and latigos — gives added security. I gener- 
ally cut ample holes for ventilation. In case 
of too many mosquitoes I stuff my handker- 
chief in the crown. I 

About your neck you will want to wear a 
silk kerchief. This is to keep out dust, and 
to prevent your neck from becoming red- 
dened and chapped. It, too, should be of the 
best quality. The poorer grades go to pieces 
soon, and their colors are not fast. Get it 
big enough. At night you will make a cap 
of it to sleep in ; and if ever you happen to 
be caught without extra clothes where it is 
very cold, you will find that the kerchief tied 
around your middle, and next the skin, will 
help surprisingly. 

A coat is useless absolutely. A sweater is 
better as far as warmth goes; a waistcoat 
beats it for pockets. You will not wear it 
during the day; it wads up too much to be 
of much use at night. Even your trousers 
rolled up make a better temporary pillow. 

37 



Kerchiefs 



Coats 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Sweaters 



Buckskin 
Shirts 



Leave it home; and ) t ou will neither regret 
it nor miss it. 

For warmth, as I have said, yon will have 
your sweater. In this case, too, I would 
impress the desirability of purchasing the 
best you can buy. And let it be a heavy 
one, of gray or a neutral brown. 

But to my mind the best extra garment 
is a good ample buckskin shirt. It is less 
bulky than the sweater, of less weight, and 
much warmer, especially in a wind, while 
for getting through brush noiselessly it can- 
not be improved upon. I do not know where 
you can buy one; but in any case get it ample 
in length and breadth, and without the 
fringe. The latter used to possess some 
significance beside ornamentation, for in 
case of need the wilderness hunter could cut 
from it thongs and strings as he needed 
them. Nowadays a man in a fringed buck- 
skin shirt is generally a fake built to deceive 
tourists. On the other hand a plain woods- 
manlike garment, worn loose and belted at 
the waist, looks always at once comfortable 
38 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

and appropriate. Be sure that the skins of 
which it is made are smoke tanned. The 
smoke tanned article will dry soft, while the 
ordinary skin is hardening- to almost the con- 
sistency of rawhide. Good huckskins are 
difficult to get hold of — and it will take five 
to make you a good shirt — but for this use 
they last practically forever. 

Of course such a garment is distinctly an 
extra or outside garment. You would find 
it too warm for ordinary wear. The outer 
shirt of your daily habit is best made of 
rather a light weight of gray flannel. Most 
new campers indulge in a very thick navy 
blue shirt, mainly, I believe, because it con- 
trasts, picturesquely with a bandana around 
the neck. Such a shirt almost always crocks, 
is sure to fade, shows dirt, and is altogether 
too hot. A lighter weight furnishes all the 
protection you need to your underclothes 
and turns sun quite as well. Gray is a neu- 
tral color, and seems less often than any 
other to shame you to the wash soap. A 
great many wear an ordinary cotton work 

39 



Overshirts 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

shirt, relying for warmth on the under- 
clothes. There is no great objection to this, 
except that flannel is better should you get 
rained on. 

The true point of comfort is, however, 

clothes 

your underwear. It should be of wool. I 
know that a great deal has been printed 
against it, and a great many hygienic princi- 
ples are invoked to prove that linen, cotton, 
or silk are better. But experience with all 
of them merely leads back to the starting 
point. If one were certain never to sweat 
freely, and never to get wet, the theories 
might hold. But once let linen or cotton or 
silk undergarments get thoroughly moist- 
ened, the first chilly little wind is your un- 
doing. You will shiver and shake before 
the hottest fire, and nothing short of a com- 
plete change and a rub-down will do you 
any good. 

Now, of course in the wilderness you 
expect to undergo extremes of temperature, 
and occasionally to pass unprotected through 

a rainstorm or a stream. Then you will dis- 
40 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

cover that wool dries quickly ; that even when 
damp it soon warms comfortably to the body. 
I have waded all day in early spring freshet 
water with no positive discomfort except for 
the cold ring around my legs which marked 
the surface of the water. 

And if you are wise, you will wear full Wear 

J . Woolen 

long-sleeved woolen undershirts even on a under- 
summer trip. If it is a real trip, you are ^ lo1 
going to sweat anyway, no matter how you 
strip down to the work. And sooner or later 
the sun will dip behind a cloud or a hill; or 
a cool breezelet will wander to you resting 
on the slope; or the inevitable chill of even- 
ing will come out from the thickets to greet 
you — and you will be very glad of your 
woolen underwear. 

A great many people go to the opposite 
extreme. They seem to think that because 
they are to live in the open air, they will 
probably freeze. As a consequence of this 
delusion, they purchase underclothes an inch 
thick. This is foolishness, not only because 
such a weight is unnecessary and unhealth- 
41 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

fill, but also — even if it were merely a ques- 
tion of warmth — because one suit of thick 
garments is not nearly so warm as two suits 
of thin. Whenever the weather turns very 
cold on you, just put on the extra undershirt 
over the one you are wearing, and you will 
be surprised to discover how much warmth 
two gauze tissues — with the minute air space 
between them — can give. Therefore, though 
you must not fail to get full length woolen 
underclothes, you need not buy them of 
great weight. The thinnest Jaeger is about 
right. 

Two undershirts and three pairs of draw- 
ers are all you ever will need on the most 
elaborate trip. You perhaps cannot believe 
that until you have gotten away from the 
idea that laundry must be done all at once. 

Laundry 

Problem In the woods it is much handier to do it a 
little at a time. Soap your outershirt at 
night; rinse it in the morning; dry it on top 
of your pack during the first two hours. 
In the meantime wear your sweater; or, if 
it is warm enough, appear in your under- 

12 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

shirt. When you change your underclothes 
— which should be one garment at a time — 
do the same thing. Thus always you will 
be possessed of a clean outfit without the 
necessity of carrying a lot of extras. 

The matter of trousers is an important Trousers 
one; for unless you are possessed of abun- 
dant means of transportation, those you 
have on will be all you will take. I used to 
include an extra pair, but got over it. Even 
when trout fishing I found that by the time 
I had finished standing around the fire cook- 
ing, or yarning, I might have to change the 
underdrawers, but the trousers themselves 
had dried well enough. And patches are not 
too difficult a maneuver. 

The almost universal wear in the West 
is the copper-riveted blue canvas overall. 
They are very good in that they wear well. 
Otherwise they are stiff and noisy in the 
brush. Kersey is excellent where much wad- 
ing is to be done or much rainy weather 
encountered — in fact it is the favorite "driv- 
ing" trousers with rivermen — but like all 
43 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

woven woolen materials it "picks out" in bad 
brush. Corduroy I would not have as a 
gift. It is very noisy, and each raindrop 
that hits it spreads at once to the size of a 
silver dollar. I verily believe an able pair of 
corduroys can, when feeling good, soak up 
ten pounds of water. Good moleskin dries 
well, and until it begins to give out is soft 
and tough. But it is like the one-hoss shay : 
when it starts to go, it does the job up com- 
pletely in a few days. The difficulty is to 
guess when that moment is due to arrive. 
Anything but the best quality is worthless. 
Khaki has lately come into popularity. It 
wears remarkably well, dries quickly, and is 
excellent in all but one particular: it shows 
every spot of dirt. A pair of khakis three 
days along on the trail look as though they 
had been out a year. The new green khaki 
is a little better. Buckskin is all right until 
you get it wet, then you have — tempora- 
rily — enough material to make three pairs 
and one for the boy. 

The best trousers I know of is a combina- 
44 



and Khaki 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

tion of the latter two materials. I bought 
a pair of the ordinary khaki army riding 
breeches, and had a tailor cover them com- 
pletely — fore, aft, and sideways — with some 
good smoke-tanned buckskin I happened to 
have. It took a skin and a half. These I 
have worn now for three seasons, in all kinds 
of country, in all kinds of weather, and they 
are to-day as good as when I constructed 
them. In still hunting they are noiseless; 
horseback they do not chafe ; in cold weather 
they are warm, and the hot sun they turn. 
The khaki holds the stretch of buckskin when 
wet — as they have been for a week at a time. 
Up to date the smoke tan has dried them 
soft. Altogether they are the most satis- 
factory garment of this kind I have experi- 
mented with. 

There remains the equally important sub- 
ject of footwear. 

Get heavy woolen lumberman's socks, and Socks 
wear them in and out of season. They are 
not one whit hotter on the feet than the 
thinnest you can buy, for the impervious 

45 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

leather of the shoe is really what keeps in 
the animal heat — the sock has little to do 
with it. You will find the soft thick wool 
an excellent cushion for a long tramp; and 
with proper care to avoid wrinkles, you will 
never become tender- footed nor chafed. At 
first it seems ridiculous to draw on such thick 
and apparently hot socks when the sun peep- 
ing over the rim of the desert promises you 
a scorching day. Nothing but actual experi- 
ence will convince you; but I am sure that 
if you will give the matter a fair test, you 
will come inevitably to my conclusion. 

If a man were limited to a choice between 

The Ideal 

moccasins and shoes, it would be very diffi- 
cult to decide wisely which he should take. 
Each has its manifest advantages over the 
other, and neither can entirely take the place 
of the other. 

The ideal footwear should give security, 
be easy on the feet, wear well, and give abso- 
lute protection. These qualities I have 
named approximately in the order of their 
importance. 

46 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

Security of footing depends on the nature Se( 
of the ground over which you are traveling, of Footing 
Hobnails only will hold you on a slope cov- 
ered with pine needles, for instance; both 
leather and buckskin there become as slip- 
pery as glass. In case of smooth rocks, how- 
ever, your hobnails are positively dangerous, 
as they slide from under you with all the 
vicious force and suddenness of unaccus- 
tomed skates. Clean leather is much better, 
and buckskin is the best of all. Often in 
hunting deer along the ledges of the deep 
box canons I, with my moccasins, have 
walked confidently up slants of smooth rock 
on which my hobnailed companion was actu- 
ally forced to his hands and knees. Un- 
doubtedly also a man carrying a pack 
through mixed forest is surer of his footing 
and less liable to turned ankles in moccasins 
than in boots. My experience has been that 
with the single exception mentioned, I have 
felt securer in the buckskin. 

As for ease to the feet, that is of course 
a matter of opinion. Undoubtedly at first 
47 



Ease 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the moccasin novice is literally a tenderfoot. 
But after astonishingly few days of practice 
a man no longer notices the lack of a sole. 
I have always worn moccasins more or less 
in the woods, and now can walk over pebbles 
or knife-edge stones without the slightest 
discomfort. In fact the absence of rolling 
and slipping in that sort of shifting footing 
turns the scale quite the other way. 

The matter of wear is not so important. 
It would seem at first glance that the one 
thin layer of buckskin would wear out 
before the several thick layers of a shoe's 
sole. Such is not always the case. A good 
deal depends on the sort of ground you 
cover. If you wet moccasins, and then walk 
down hill with them over granite shale, you 
can get holes to order. Boots wear rapidly 
in the same circumstances. On the other 
hand I have on at this moment a pair of 
mooseskin moccasins purchased three years 
ago at a Hudson's Bay Company's post, 
which have seen two summers' off and on 
service in the Sierras. Barring extraor- 
48 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

dinary conditions, I should say that each in 
its proper use, a pair of boots and a pair of 
moccasins would last about the same length 
of time. The moccasin, however, has this 
advantage: it can be readily patched, and 
even a half dozen extra pairs take up little 
room in the pack. 

Absolute protection must remain a tenta- Water- 
tive term. No footwear I have succeeded prc 
in discovering gives absolute protection. 
Where there is much work to be done in 
the water, I think boots are the warmest and 
most comfortable, though no leather is per- 
fectly waterproof. Moccasins then become 
slimpsy, stretched, and loathsome. So like- 
wise moccasins are not much good in damp 
snow, though in dry snow they are unex- 
celled. 

In my own practice I wear boots on a 
horseback trip, and carry moccasins in my 
pack for general walking. In the woods I 
pack four pair of moccasins. In a canoe, 
moccasins of course. 

Do not make the common mistake of 
49 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

dinary conditions, I should say that each in 
its proper use, a pair of boots and a pair of 
moccasins would last about the same length 
of time. The moccasin, however, has this 
advantage: it can be readily patched, and 
even a half dozen extra pairs take up little 
room in the pack. 

Absolute protection must remain a tenta- water- 
tive term. No footwear I have succeeded prc 
in discovering gives absolute protection. 
Where there is much work to be done in 
the water, I think boots are the warmest and 
most comfortable, though no leather is per- 
fectly waterproof. Moccasins then become 
slimpsy, stretched, and loathsome. So like- 
wise moccasins are not much good in damp 
snow, though in dry snow they are unex- 
celled. 

In my own practice I wear boots on a 
horseback trip, and carry moccasins in my 
pack for general walking. In the woods I 
pack four pair of moccasins. In a canoe, 
moccasins of course. 

Do not make the common mistake of 
49 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

About BootB g ettin £ tremendously heavy boots. They 
are clumsy to place, burdensome to carry, 
and stiff and unpliable to the chafing point. 
The average amateur woodsman seems to 
think a pair of elephantine brogans is the 
proper thing — a sort of badge of identifica- 
tion in the craft. If he adds big hobnails 
to make tracks with, he is sure of himself. A 
medium weight boot, of medium height, with 
medium heavy soles armed only with the 
small Hungarian hobnail is about the proper 
thing. Get them eight inches high ; supplied 
with very large eyelets part waj^, then the 
heaviest hooks, finishing with two more eye- 
lets at the top. The latter will prevent the 
belt-lacing you will use as shoestrings from 
coming unhooked. 

You will see many advertisements of 
waterproof leather boots. No such thing is 
made. Some with good care will exclude 
water for a while, if you stay in it but a few 
minutes at a time, but sooner or later as the 
fibers become loosened the water will pene- 
trate. In the case of the show window 

50 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

exhibit of the shoe standing in a pan of 
water, pressure of the foot and ground 
against the leather is lacking, which of 
course makes all the difference. This por- 
osity is really desirable. A shoe wholly 
waterproof would retain and condense the 
perspiration to such an extent that the feet 
would be as wet at the end of the day. Such 
is the case with rubber boots. All you want 
is a leather that will permit you to splash 
through a marsh, a pool, or a little stream, 
and will not seek to emulate blotting paper 
in its haste to become saturated. 

Of the boots I have tried, and that means 
a good many, I think the Putman boot and 
the river driver's boot, made by A. A. Cutter 
of Eau Claire, Wis., are made of the most 
durable material. The Putman boot is the 
more expensive ; and in the case of the three 
pairs I know of personally, the sewing has 
been defective. The material, however, 
wears remarkably well, and remains water- 
proof somewhat longer than any of the 
others. On the other hand the Cutter shoe 

51 



The Most 

Durable 

Boots 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

is built primarily for rivermen and timber 
cruisers of the northern forests, and is at 
once cheap and durable. It has a brace of 
sole leather about the heel which keeps the 
latter upright and prevents it running over. 
It is an easier shoe on the foot than any of 
the others, but does not remain waterproof 
quite so long as the Putman. Although, 
undoubtedly, many other makes are as good, 
you will not go astray in purchasing one of 
these two. 

No shoe is waterproof for even a short 
time in wet snow. Rubber is then the only 
solution, usually in the shape of a shoe rub- 
ber with canvas tops. Truth to tell, melting 
snow is generally so very cold that you will 
be little troubled with interior condensation. 
Likewise many years' experience in grouse 
hunting through the thickets and swamps of 
Michigan drove me finally to light hip rub- 
ber boots. The time was always the autumn ; 
the place was always more or less muddy and 
wet — in spots of course — and there was 
always the greater or lesser possibility of 
52 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

snow. My native town was a great grouse 
shooting center, and all hunters, old and 
young, came to the same conclusion. 

But wet snow, such hunting, and of 
course the duck marsh, seem to me the only 
excuses for rubber. Trout fishing is more 
comfortable in woolen than in waders. The 
latter are clumsy and hot. I have known 
of two instances of drowning because the 
victims were weighted down by them. And 
I should much prefer getting wet from 
without than from within. 

You will have your choice of three kinds 
of moccasin — the oil-tanned shoe pac, the 
deerhide, and the moosehide. 

The shoe pac is about as waterproof as Sh °e Pacs 
the average waterproof shoe, and would be 
the best for all purposes were it not for the 
fact that its very imperviosity renders it too 
hot. In addition continuous wear affects 
the oil in the tanning process to produce 
rather an evil odor. The shoe pacs are very 
useful, however, and where I carry but two 
pairs of moccasins, one is of the oil tan. 

53 



Moccasins 



Waistcoats 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Shoe pacs can be purchased of any sporting 
goods dealer. 

The deerhide moccasin, in spite of its 
thinner texture, wears about as well as the 
moosehide, is less bulky to carry, but 
stretches more when wet and is not as easy 
on the feet. I use either sort as I happen 
to get hold of them. Genuine buckskin or 
moose is rather scarce. Commercial mocca- 
sins with the porcupine quills and "Souvenir 
of Mackinaw" on them are made by machin- 
ery out of sheepskin. They are absolutely 
useless, and last about long enough to get 
out of sight of the shop. A great majority 
of the moccasins sold as sportsman's supplies 
are likewise very bogus. My own wear I 
have always purchased of Hudson's Bay 
posts. Undoubtedly many reliable firms 
carry them; but I happen to know by per- 
sonal experience that the Putman Boot Com- 
pany of Minneapolis have the real thing. 

Proceeding to more outer garments, a 
waistcoat is a handy affair. In warm 
weather you leave it open and hardly know 

54 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

you have it on; in cold weather you button 
it up, and it affords excellent protection. 
Likewise it possesses the advantage of 
numerous pockets. These you will have 
your women folk extend and deepen for 
you, until your compass, notebook, pipe, 
matches, and so forth fit nicely in them. As 
it is to be used as an outside garment, have 
the back lined. If you have shot enough 
deer to get around to waistcoats, nothing 
could be better by way of material than the 
ever-useful buckskin. 

I am no believer in waterproof garments. 
Once I owned a pantasote outer coat which 
I used to assume whenever it rained. Ordi- 
narily when it is warm enough to rain, it is 
warm enough to cause you to perspire under 
the exertion of walking in a pantasote coat. 
This I discovered. Shortly I would get wet, 
and would be quite unable to decide whether 
the rain had soaked through from the out- 
side or I had soaked through from the inside. 
After that I gave the coat away to a man 
who had not tried it, and was happy. If I 



Ponchos 



Slickers 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

must walk in the rain I prefer to put on a 
sweater — the rough wool of which will turn 
water for some time and the texture of 
which allows ventilation. Then the chances 
are that even if I soak through I do not 
get a reactionary chill from becoming over- 
heated. 

In camp you will know enough to go in 
when it rains. When you have to sally forth 
you will thrust your head through the hole 
in the middle of your rubber blanket. 
When thus equipped the rubber blanket is 
known as a poncho, and is most useful be- 
cause it can be used for two purposes. 

Horseback in a rainy country is, however, 
a different matter. There transportation is 
not on your back, but another's; and sitting 
a horse is not violent exercise. Some people 
like a poncho. I have always found its 
lower edge cold, clumsy, and wet, much in- 
clined to blow about, and apt to soak your 
knees and the seat of your saddle. The 
cowboy slicker cannot be improved upon. It 
is different in build from the ordinary oil- 
56 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

skin. Call for a "pommel slicker," and be 
sure it is apparently about two sizes too 
large for you. Thus you will cover your 
legs. Should you be forced to walk, a belt 
around your waist will always enable you to 
tuck it up like a comic opera king. It is 
sure ludicrous to view, but that does not 
matter. 

Apropos of protecting your legs, there 
remains still the question of chaparejos or 
chaps. Unless you are likely to be called on 
to ride at some speed through thorny brush, 
or unless you expect to ride very wet indeed, 
they are a useless affectation. The cowboy 
needs them because he does a great deal of 
riding of the two kinds just mentioned. 
Probably you will not. I have had perhaps 
a dozen occasions to put them on. If you 
must have them, get either oil-tanned or 
hair chaps. Either of these sheds water like 
a tin roof. The hair chaps will not last long 
in a thorny country. 

You will need furthermore a pair of 
gloves of some sort, not for constant wear, 

57 



Glorei 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

nor merely for warmth, but to protect you 
in the handling of pack ropes, lead ropes, 
and cooking utensils. A good buckskin 
gauntlet is serviceable, as the cuffs keep the 
cold breezes from playing along your fore- 
arm to your shoulder, and exclude the dust. 
When you can get hold of the army gaunt- 
let, as you sometimes can in the military 
stores, buy them. Lacking genuine buck- 
skin, the lighter grades of "asbestos" yellow 
tan are the best. They cost about two dol- 
lars. To my notion a better rig is an ordi- 
nary pair of short gloves, supplemented by 
the close-fitting leather cuffs of a cowboy's 
outfit. The latter hold the wrist snugly, 
exclude absolutely chill and dirt, and in 
addition save wear and soiling of the shirt 
cuff. They do not pick up twigs, leaves, 
and rubbish funnel wise, as a gauntlet cuff is 
apt to do. 

That, I think, completes your wearing 
apparel. Let us now take up the contents 
of your pockets, and your other personal 
belongings. 

58 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 



SUMMARY 



Minimum for comfort 

Felt hat 
Silk kerchief 
Waistcoat 
Buckskin shirt or 

sweater 
Gray flannel shirt 

2 undershirts and 
drawers 

Trousers — buckskin 
over khaki 

3 pairs heavy socks 
3 pairs moccasins 

or 
1 pair boots 
1 pair moccasins 
Gloves and leather 
cuffs 



Maximum 

Felt hat 

Silk kerchief 

Waistcoat 

Buckskin shirt and 
sweater 

Gray flannel shirt 

2 undershirts, 3 draw- 
ers (includes one 
suit you wear) 

Trousers 

4 pairs socks 

1 pair boots 

Moccasins 

Slicker 

Gloves and leather 
cuffs 



59 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

(CONTINUED) 



CHAPTER IV 

PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

(Continued) 

MATCHES, knife, and a compass are Miches 
the three indispensables. By way of 
ignition you will take a decided step 
backward from present-day civilization in 
that you will pin your faith to the old sulphur 
"eight-day" matches of your fathers. This 
for several reasons. In the first place they 
come in blocks, unseparated, which are eas- 
ily carried without danger of rubbing one 
against the other. In the second place, they 
take up about a third the room the same num- 
ber of wooden matches would require. In 
the third place, they are easier to light in a 
wind, for they do not flash up and out, but 
persist. And finally, if wet, they can be 
spread out and dried in the sun, which is the 
most important of all. So buy you a nickel's 
worth of sulphur matches. 

63 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

The main supply you will pack in some 
sort of waterproof receptacle. 1 read a 

Story recently in which a man was recognized 
as a true woodsman because lie carried his 

matches in a bottle. lie must have had good 
luck. The cardinal principle of packing is 

never to carry any glassware. Ninety and 
nine days it may pass safely, but the hun- 
dredth will smash it as suit' as some people's 

shooting. .And then you have jam, or chili 
powder, or syrup, or whiskey, all over the 
place or else no matches. Any good screw 
top can— or better still, two telescoping 
tubes is infinitely better. 
The day's supply you will put in your 

pocket, A portion can go in a small water- 
proof match safe; but as it is a tremendous 
nuisance to be opening such a contrivance 
every time you want a smoke, I should 
advise you to stick a block in your waistcoat 
pocket, where you can get at them easily. 
If you are going a-wading, and pockets are 
precarious, you will find your hat band 
handy. 

64 




One of the mishaps to be expected 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

The waterproof pocket safe is numerous 
on the market. A ten-gauge brass shell will 
just chamber a twelve-gauge. Put your 
matches in the twelve-gauge, and telescope 
the ten over it. Abercrombie & Fitch, of 
New York, make a screw top safe of rubber, 
which has the great advantage of floating if 
dropped, but it is too bulky and the edges 
are too sharp. The Marble safe, made by 
the Marble Axe Company, is ingenious and 
certainly waterproof; but if it gets bent in 
the slightest degree, it jams, and you can 
no longer screw it shut. Therefore I con- 
sider it useless for this reason. A very con- 
venient and cheap emergency contrivance is 
the flint and steel pocket cigar lighter to be 
had at most cigar stores. With it as a re- 
serve you are sure of a fire no matter how 
wet the catastrophe. 

Your knife should be a medium size two- Knives 
bladed affair, of the best quality. Do not 
get it too large and heavy. You can skin and 
quarter a deer with an ordinary jackknife. 
Avoid the "kit" knives. They are mighty 

65 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

handy contraptions. I owned one with two 
hlades, a thoroughly practicable can opener, 
an awl or punch, a combined reamer, nail 
pull and screwdriver, and a corkscrew. It 
was a delight for as long as it lasted. The 
trouble with such knives is that they are too 
round, so that sooner or later they are abso- 
lutely certain to roll out of your pocket and 
be lost. It makes no difference how your 
pockets are constructed, nor how careful you 
are, that result is inevitable. Then you will 
feel badly — and go back to your old flat two- 
bladed implement that you simply cannot 
lose. 
Sheath A butcher knife of good make is one of 
the best and cheapest of sheath knives. The 
common mistake among amateur hunters is 
that of buying too heavy a knife with too 
thick a blade. Unless you expect to indulge 
in hand to hand conflicts, or cut brush, such 
a weapon is excessive. I myself have carried 
for the last seven years a rather thin and 
broad blade made by the Marble Axe Com- 
pany on the butcher knife pattern. This 
66 



Knives 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

company advertises in its catalogue a knife 
as used by myself. They are mistaken. The 
knife I mean is a longer bladed affair, called 
a "kitchen or camp knife." It is a most 
excellent piece of steel, holds an edge well, 
and is useful alike as a camp and hunt- 
ing knife. The fact that I have killed some 
thirty-four wild boars with it shows that it 
is not to be despised as a weapon. 

Your compass should be large enough for ' 
accuracy, with a jewel movement. Such an 
instrument can be purchased for from one 
to two dollars. It is sheer extravagance to 
go in for anything more expensive unless 
you are a yachtsman or intend to run survey 
lines. 

I have hesitated much before deciding to ' 

fe Guns 

say anything whatever of the sporting out- 
fit. The subject has been so thoroughly dis- 
cussed by men so much more competent than 
myself; there are so many theories with 
which I confess myself not at all conversant, 
and my own experience has been so limited 
in the variety of weapons and tackle, that I 

67 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

hardly felt qualified to speak. However, I 
reflected that this whole series of articles 
does not pretend to be in any way authorita- 
tive, nor does it claim to present the only or 
the best equipment in any branch of wilder- 
ness travel, but onty to set forth the results 
of my own twenty years more or less of 
pretty steady outdoor life. So likewise it 
may interest the reader to hear about the 
contents of my own gunrack, even though 
he himself would have chosen much more 
wisely. 

My rifle is a .30-40 box magazine Win- 
chester, with Lyman sights. This I have 
heard is not a particularly accurate gun. 
Also it is stated that after a few hundred 
shots it becomes still more inaccurate because 
of a residue which only special process can 
remove from the rifling. This maj^ be. I 
only know that my own rifle to-day, after 
ten years' service, will still shoot as closely 
as I know how to hold it, although it has 
sixty-four notches on its stock and has prob- 
ably been fired first and last — at big' game, 

(58 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

small game, and targets — upward of a thou- 
sand times. I use the Lyman aperture sight 
except in the dusk of evening, when a fold- 
ing bar sight takes its place. At the time I 
bought this rifle the .33 and .35 had not been 
issued, and I thought, and still think, the 
.30-. 30 too light for sure work on any animal 
larger than a deer. I have never used the 
.35, but like the .33 very much. The old 
low-power guns I used to shoot a great deal, 
but have not for some years. 

The handiest weapon for a woods trip 

Handy 

where small game is plentiful is a single-shot weapon 
pistol. Mine is a Smith & Wesson, blued, 
six-inch barrel, shooting the .22 caliber long- 
rifle cartridge. An eight-inch barrel is com- 
monly offered by the sporting dealers, but 
the six-inch is practically as accurate, and 
less cumbersome to carry. The ammunition 
is compact and light. With this little pistol 
I have killed in plenty ducks, geese, grouse, 
and squirrels, so that at times I have gone 
two or three months without the necessity of 
shooting a larger weapon. Such a pistol 

69 



Revolver 
Experiences 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

takes practice, however, and a certain knack. 
Yon must keep at it until you can get four 
out of five bullets in a three-inch bull's-eye 
at twenty yards before you can even hope 
to accomplish much in the field. 

My six-shooter is a .45 Colt, New Service 
model. It is fitted with Lyman revolver 
sights. Originally it was a self-cocker, but 
I took out the dog and converted it to sin- 
gle action. The trigger pull on the double 
action is too heavy for me, and when I came 
to file it down, I found the double action 
caused a double jerk disconcerting to steady 
holding. Now it goes off smoothly and 
almost at a touch — the only conditions under 
which I can do much with a revolver. It is 
a very reliable weapon indeed, balances bet- 
ter than the single-action model, and pos- 
sesses great smashing power. I have killed 
three deer in their tracks with it, and much 
smaller game. This summer, however, I 
had the opportunity of shooting a good deal 
with two I like better. One is the Officer's 
Model Colt, chambered to shoot inter- 
70 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

changeably either the .38 Colt long" or short, 
or the .38 Smith & Wesson special. In fin- 
ish it is a beautiful weapon, its grip fits the 
hand, its action is smooth, and it is wonder- 
fully accurate. The other is the special tar- 
get .44 Russian. The automatics I do not 
care for simply because I never learned to 
shoot with the heavier trigger pull necessary 
to their action. 

I have two shotguns. One I have shot 
twenty-one years. It has killed thousands 
of game birds, is a hard hitter, throws an 
excellent pattern, and is as strong and good 
as the day it was bought. I use it to-day for 
every sort of shooting except ducks, though 
often I have had it in the blinds lacking the 
heavier weapon. It is doubtful if there are 
in use to-day many guns with longer service, 
counting not so much the mere years of its 
performance, as the actual amount of hunt- 
ing it has done. The time of its construction 
was before the days of the hammerless. It 
was made by W. & C. Scott & Sons, is 16 
gauge, and cost $125. My other is a heavily 

71 



Shot Guns 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

choked Parker twelve. It I use for wild 
fowl, and occasionally at the trap. 

The main point with guns, no matter what 
the kind, is to keep them in good shape. 
After shooting, clean them, no matter how 
tired you may be. It is no great labor. In 
the field a string cleaner will do the business, 
but at once when you get to permanent 
camp use a rod and elbow grease. In a 
damp country, oil them afresh every day; 
so they will give you good service. The 
barrels of my 16 are as bright as new. The 
cleaning rods you can put in your leather 
fishing-rod case. 

Now all these things of which we have 
made mention must be transported. The 
duffle bag is the usual receptacle for them. 
It should be of some heavy material, water- 
proofed, and should not be too large. A 
good one is of pantasote, with double top 
to tie. One of these went the length of a 
rapids, and was fished out without having 
shipped a drop. On a horseback trip, how- 
ever, such a contrivance is at once unneces- 

72 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

sary and difficult to pack. It is too long and 
stiff to go easily in the kyacks, and does not 
agree well with the bedding on top. 

This is really no great matter. The heavy 
kyacks, and the tarpaulin over everything, 
furnish all needed protection against wet 
and abrasion. A bag of some thinner and 
more pliable material is quite as good. 
Brown denim, unbleached cotton, or even a 
clean flour sack, are entirely adequate. You 
will find it handy to have them built with 
puckering strings. The strings so employed 
will not get lost, and can be used as a loop 
to hang the outfit from a branch when in 
camp. 

A similar but smaller bag is useful to be Toilet 

Articles 

reserved entirely as a toilet bag. Tar soap 
in a square — not round — celluloid case is the 
most cleansing. A heavy rubber band will 
hold the square case together. 1 The tooth 
brush should also have its case. Tooth wash 
comes in glass, which is taboo ; tooth powder 

1 Kephart, in his excellent book on Camping and Wood- 
craft, suggests carrying soap in a rubber tobacco pouch. This 
is a good idea. 

73 



Medicine! 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

is sure sooner or later to leak out. I like best 
any tooth soap which is sold in handy flat 
tin boxes, and cannot spill. If you are sensi- 
ble you will not be tenderfoot enough to go 
in for the discomfort of a new beard. 
Razors can be kept from rusting by wrap- 
ping them in a square of surgeon's oiled silk. 
Have your towel of brown crash — never of 
any white material. The latter is so closely 
w T oven that dirt gets into the very fiber of it, 
and cannot be washed out. Crash, however, 
is of looser texture, softens quickly, and does 
not show every speck of dust. If you have 
the room for it, a rough towel, while not 
absolutely necessaiy, is nevertheless a great 
luxury. 

By way of medicines, stick to the tablet 
form. A strong compact medicine case is 
not expensive. It should contain antiseptics, 
permanganate for snake bites, a laxative, 
cholera remedy, quinine, and morphine. In 
addition antiseptic bandages and rubber or 
surgeon's plaster should be wrapped in oiled 
silk and included in the duffle outfit. 

74 



PERSONAL EQUIPMENT 

The fly problem is serious in some sections 
of the country and at some times of year. A 
head net is sometimes useful about camp or 
riding in the open — never when walking in 
the woods. The ordinary mosquito bar is 
too fragile. One of bobbinet that fits in- 
geniously is very effective. This and gloves 
will hold you immune — but you cannot 
smoke, nor spit on the bait. 

The two best fly dopes of the many I have Fly Dopes 
tried are a commercial mixture called "lolla- 
capop," and Nessmuk's formula. The lolla- 
capop comes in tin boxes, and so is handy to 
carry, but does not wear quite as well as the 
other. Nessmuk's dope is: 

Oil pine tar 3 parts 

Castor oil 2 parts 

Oil pennyroyal . . .1 part 

It is most effective. A dab on each cheek 
and one behind each ear will repel the fly 
of average voracity, while a full coating 
will save you in the worst circumstances. A 
single dose will last until next wash time. 
It is best carried in the tiny "one drink" 

75 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Fly Dopes whiskey flasks, holding, I suppose, two or 
three ounces. One flask full will last you 
all summer. At first the pine tar smell will 
bother you, but in a short time you will get 
to like it. It will call up to your memory 
the reaches of trout streams, and the tall still 
aisles of the forests. 



SUMMARY 



Mini mam for comfort 
Matches and safe 
Pocket knife (2 blade) 
Sheath knife 
Compass 
1 bandana 
Sporting outfit 
Duffle bag 
Soap and case 
Crash towel 
Tooth brush 
Tooth soap 

Shaving set in oiled silk 
Medicines and bandages 
Fly dope (sometimes) 



Maximuvi 
Matches and safe 
Pocket knife 
Sheath knife 
Compass 
2 bandanas 
Sporting outfit 
Duffle bag 
Soap and case 
Crash towel 
Bath towel 
Tooth brush 
Tooth soap 

Shaving set in oiled silk 
Medicines and bandages 
Fly dope and head net 



76 



CAMP OUTFIT 



CHAPTER V 

CAMP OUTFIT 

IN many sections of the country you will T 
need a tent, even when traveling afoot. 
Formerly a man had to make a choice 
between canvas, which is heavy but fairly 
waterproof, and drill, which is light but 
flimsy. A seven by seven duck tent weighs 
fully twenty-five pounds when dry, and a 
great many more when wet. It will shed 
rain as long as you do not hit against it. A 
touch on the inside, however, will often start 
a trickle at the point of contact. Altogether 
it is unsatisfactory, and one does not wonder 
than many men prefer to knock together 
bark shelters. 

Nowadays, however, another and better 
material is to be had. It is the stuff balloons 
are made of, and is called balloon silk. I 
believe, for shelter purposes, it undergoes 
a further waterproofing process, but of this 

79 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

I am not certain. A tent of the size men- 

TVTfl torifl.1 

tioned, instead of weighing twenty-five 
pounds, pulls the scales down at about eight. 
Furthermore, it does not absorb moisture, and 
is no heavier when wet than when dry. One 




f^jf*y 



"^1" Tent Pitched as Shelter. 

can touch the inside all he wishes without ren- 
dering it pervious. The material is tough 
and enduring. 

I have one which I have used hard for 
five years, not only as a tent, but as a canoe 
lining, a sod cloth, a tarpaulin, and a pack 
canvas. To-day it is as serviceable as ever, 
and excepting for inevitable soiling, two 
small patches represents its entire wear and 
tear. 

SO 



CAMP OUTFIT 

Abercrombie & Fitch, who make this tent, 
will try to persuade you, if you demand pro- 
tection against mosquitoes, to let them sew 
on a sod-cloth of bobbinet and ? ^ose long 
curtain of the same material to ?over the 




"A" Tent Pitched Between Two Trees. 

entrance. Do not allow it. The rig is all 

right as long as there are plenty of flies. 

But suppose you want to use the tent in a Don't Use 

flyless land? There still blocks your way 

that confounded curtain of bobbinet, fitting 

tightly enough so that you have almost to 

crawl when you enter, and so arranged that 

it is impossible to hang it up out of the way. 

The tent itself is all right, but its fly rigging 

is all wrong. 

81 



Best Tent 
Protection 
from Flies 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

I have found that a second tent huilt of 
cheesecloth, and without any opening what- 
ever, is the best scheme. Tapes are sewn 
along its ridge. These you tie to the ridge 
pole or rope of the tent — on the inside of 
course. The cheesecloth structure thus 




'A" Tent Pitched on Treeless Ground. 



hangs straight down. When not in use it is 
thrust to one side or the other. If flies get 
thick, you simply go inside and spread it 
out. It should be made somewhat larger in 
the wall than the tent so that you can weight 
its lower edge with fishing rods, rifles, boots, 
sticks, or rocks. Nothing can touch you. 
The proper shape for a tent is a matter 
82 



CAMP OUTFIT 

of some discussion. Undoubtedly the lean- 
to is the ideal shelter so far as warmth goes. 
You build your fire in front, the slanting 
wall reflects the heat down and you sleep 
warm even in winter weather. In practice, 
however, the lean-to is not always an undi- 




Method of Tightening Rope. 

luted joy. Flies can get in for one thing, 
and a heavy rainstorm can suck around the 
corner for another. In these circumstances 
four walls are highly desirable. 

On the other hand a cold snap makes a 
wall tent into a cold storage vault. Tent 
stoves are little devils. They are either red 
hot or stone cold, and even when doing their 

83 



Shape of 
Tent 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

best, there is always a northwest corner that 

declines to be thawed out. A man feels the 

need of a camp fire, properly constructed. 

For three seasons I have come gradually 

the Best . . • , 

to thinking that an A or wedge tent is about 
the proper thing. In event of that rain- 
storm or those flies its advantages are obvi- 
ous. When a cold snap comes along, you 
simply pull up the stakes along one side, 
tie the loops of that wall to the same stakes 
that hold down the other wall — and there is 
your lean-to all ready for the fire. 

When you get your tent made, have them 
insert grommets in each peak. Through 
these you will run a light line. By tying 
each end of the line to a tree or sapling, stak- 
ing out the four corners of your tent, and 
then tightening the line by wedging under it 
(and outside the tent, of course) a forked 
pole, your tent is up in a jiffy. Where you 
cannot find two trees handily placed, poles 
crossed make good supports front and rear. 
The line passes over them and to a stake in 
the ground. These are quick pitches for a 
84 



CAMP OUTFIT 

brief stop. By such methods an A tent is 
erected as quickly as a "pyramid," a miner's, 
or any of the others. In permanent camp, 
you will cut poles and do a shipshape job. 

Often, however, you will not need to bur- Tarpai 
den yourself with even as light a tent as I 



0S&'-, ^^r~\':^ ; >;k~t j '~-E 


"'"-^-A --v^-A" -----"-% .-^ 




. ., r -^/-. ._•--.-. .r- . .-•^gs^'K-'-'f;^.^ 


vv^ s~ ' ' 'H ■ 


• -■-; : --: ; .,". ,: >-' »•■'-•,. 


•C % - •/.••:. -a'.\, ?.^\'/>1>td • 


* > • - •'•' .-* ~*~. .*. • 


' . ■■ ■ - .-' ,'-' .'■* "•'-■-: 


'■■"" "^ » : v % *-•>''_ ■■ ■ *j 




'■••-• ' '. .-• > -'' "i «■-. •'. . 


'"'•■ <~~ ^-^ ■'-'••'"-' <"•! : 




■~ » % *,■"•- '~?l : , : ^~^''~"~~.~: • ""'" C' ■;"' ? 


-, ■**"■■'.■■•■.. ■ 




'"- '•\\.;. : '.-"v. - "• : ■'>:■■'...;■.•' .' ■'.'# 


^^r ; *^"^~'^^ • 





Tarpaulin, 
Open and Folded. 



rT^i^- -■"-^^ 



Tiri'"","i^ I 



' \ 



,v;.v 






•vft 






have described. This is especially true on 
horseback trips in the mountains. There 
you will carry a tarpaulin. This is a strip 
of canvas or pantasote 6 x 16 or 17 feet. 
During the daytime it is folded and used to 
protect the top packs from dust, wet, and 

85 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

abrasion. At night you spread it, make your 
bed on one half of it, and fold the other half 
over the outside. This arrangement will 
aulin 6 f^d quite a shower. In case of continued 
or heavy rain, you stretch a pack rope be- 
tween two trees or crossed poles, and suspend 
the tarp over it tent wise, tying down the 
corners by means of lead ropes. Two tarps 
make a commodious tent. If you happen to 
be alone, a saddle blanket will supplement 
the tarp to give some sort of protection to 
your feet, and, provided it is stretched 
tightly, will shed quite a downpour. 

The tarp, as I have said, should measure 
6x16. If of canvas, do not get it too heavy, 
as then it will be stiff and hard to handle. 
About 10-ounce duck is the proper thing. 
After you have bought it, lay it out on the 
floor folded once, as it will be when you 
have made your bed in it. To the lower 
half and on both edges, as it lies there, sew a 
half dozen snap hooks. To the upper can- 
vas, but about six inches in from the edge, 
sew corresponding rings for the snap hooks. 
86 



CAMP OUTFIT 

Thus on a cold night you can bundle your- 
self in without leaving cracks along the edges 
to admit the chilly air. 

In the woods you will want furthermore 
a rubber blanket. This is unnecessary when 
the tarpaulin is used. Buy a good poncho. 
Poor quality sticks badly should it chance 
to become overheated by the sun. 

A six or seven pound blanket of the best 
quality is heavy enough. The gray army 
blanket, to be purchased sometimes at the 
military stores, is good, as is also the "three- 
point" blanket issued by the Hudson's Bay 
Company. The cost is from $6 to $8. One 
is enough. You will find that another suit 
of underwear is as warm as an extra blan- 
ket, and much easier to carry. Sleeping 
bags I do not care for. They cannot be 
drawn closely to the body, and the resulting 
air space is difficult to warm up. A blanket 
you can hug close to you, thus retaining all 
the animal heat. Beside which a sleeping bag 
is heavier and more of a bother to keep 
well aired. If you like the thing occasion- 

87 



Rubber 
Blankets 



Blankets 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

ally, a few horse blanket pins will make one 
of your blanket. 

It is the purpose of this book to deal 
with equipments rather than with methods. 
There are a great many very competent 
treatises telling you how to build your 
fire, pitch your tent, and all the rest of 
it. I have never seen described the woods- 
men's method of using a blanket, how- 
ever. Lie flat on your back. Spread the 
blanket over you. Now raise your legs rigid 
from the hip, the blanket of course draping 
over them. In two swift motions tuck first 
one edge under your legs from right to left, 
then the second edge under from left to 
right, and over the first edge. Lower your 
legs, wrap up your shoulders, and go to 
sleep. If you roll over, one edge will un- 
wind but the other will tighten. 

In the forest your rubber and woolen 
blankets will comprise your bed. You will 
soften it with pine needles or balsam. On a 
horseback trip, however, it is desirable to 
carry also an ordinary comforter, or quilt, 



CAMP OUTFIT 

or "sogun." You use it under you. Folded 
once, so as to afford two thicknesses, it goes 
far toward softening granite country. By 
way of a gentle hint, if you will spread your 
saddle blankets beneath your tarp, they will 
help a lot, and you will get none of the 
horsey aroma. 

A pillow can be made out of a little bag ] 
of muslin or cotton or denim. In it you 
stuff an extra shirt, or your sweater, or some 
such matter. A very small "goose hair" 
pillow may be thrust between the folds of 
your blanket when you have a pack horse. • 
It will not be large enough all by itself, but 
with a sweater or a pair of trousers beneath 
it will be soft and easy to a tired head. 
Have its cover of brown denim. 

On a pack trip a pail is a necessity which ] 
is not recognized in the forest, where you 
can dip your cup or kettle direct into the 
stream. Most packers carry a galvanized 
affair, which they turn upside down on top of 
the pack. There it rattles and bangs against 
every overhead obstruction on the trail, and 

89 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Wash 

Basins 

and 

Wash Tubs 



ends by being battered to leakiness. A 
bucket made of heavy brown duck, with a 
wire hoop hemmed in by way of rim, and 
a light rope for handle carries just as much 
water, holds it as well, and has the great 
advantage of collapsing flat. 

A wash basin built on the same principle 
is often a veritable godsend, and a man can 




Collapsible Canvas Bucket 
and Wash Basin. 




Folding Lantern. 



even carry a similar contrivance big enough 
for a washtub without adding appreciably 
to the bulk or weight of his animal's pack. 
Crushed flat all three take up in thickness 
about the space of one layer of blanket, and 
90 



CAMP OUTFIT 

the weight of the lot is just a pound and a 
half. 

The Stonebridge folding candle lantern Lanterns 
is the best I know of. It folds quite flat, 
has four mica windows, and is easily put 
together. The measurements, folded, are 
only 6x4 inches by 1-2 inch thick, and its 
weight but 13 ounces. The manufacturers 
make the same lantern in aluminum, but I 
found it too easily bent to stand the rough 
handling incidental to a horse trip. The 
steel lantern costs one dollar. 1 

If you carry an axe at all, do not try to Hatchets 
compromise on a light one. I never use such 
an implement in the woods. A light hatchet 
is every bit as good for the purpose of fire- 
wood, and better when it is a question of tent 
poles or pegs. Read Nessmuk's Woodcraft 
on this subject. The Marble Safety Axe 
is the best, both because of the excellent 
steel used in its manufacture, and because of 
the ease of its transportation. I generally 

1 One is now made of brass to fold automatically, at a 
slightly higher price. 

91 



Axes 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

carry mine in my hip pocket. Get the metal 
handle and heaviest weight. I have traveled 
a considerable part of the Canadian forests 
with no other implement of the sort. 

On a horseback trip in the mountains, 
however, this will not suffice. Often and 
often you will be called on to clear trail, to 
cut timber for trail construction or to 
make a footing over some ultra-tempestuous 
streamlet. You might peck away until 
further orders with your little hatchet with- 
out much luck. Then you need an axe — not 
a "half axe," nor a "three-quarter axe" — but 
a full five-pound weapon with an edge you 
could shave with. And you should know 
how to use it. "Chewing a log in two" is a 
slow and unsatisfactory business. 

To keep this edge you will carry a file 
and a water whetstone. Use your hatchet as 
much as possible, take care of how and what 
you chop, and do not wait until the axe gets 
really dull before having recourse to your file 
and stone. It is a long distance to a grind- 
stone. Wes Thompson expressed the situ- 

92 



CAMP OUTFIT 



ation well. He watched the Kid's efforts 
for a moment in silence. 

"Kid," said he sorrowfully at last, "you'll 
have to make your choice. Either you do 
all the chopping or none of it." 

Needle, thread, a waxed end, and a piece Repairs 
of buckskin for strings and patches com- 
pletes the ordinary camp outfit. Your re- 
pair kit needs additions when applied to 
mountain trips, but that question will come 
up under another heading. 



SUMMARY 



Minimum for comfort 
Silk tent (sometimes) 
Rubber blanket 
Blanket 

Pillow case of denim 
Pocket axe 
File and whetstone 
Needle and thread 
Waxed end 
Piece of buckskin 



Maximum 
Tarpaulin 
Blanket 
Comforter 
Small pillow 
Canvas bucket 
Canvas wash basin 
Canvas wash tub 
Candle lantern and candles 
Pocket axe 
5 pound axe 
File and whetstone 
Needle and thread 
Waxed end 
Piece of buckskin 



93 



THE COOK OUTFIT 



CHAPTER VI 

THE COOK OUTFIT 

MOST people take into the woods too Materials 
many utensils and of too heavy 
material. The result is a dispro- 
portion between the amount of food trans- 
ported and the means of cooking it. 

I have experimented with about every 
material going, and used all sorts of dishes. 
Once I traveled ten days, and did all my 
cooking in a tip cup and on a willow switch — 
nor did I live badly. An ample outfit, how- 
ever, judiciously selected, need take up little 
bulk or weight. 

Tin is the lightest material, but breaks up i>in 
too easily under rough usage. Still, it is 
by no means to be despised. With a little 
care I have made tin coffee pots and tin 
pails last out a season. When through, I 
discarded them. And my cups and plates 
are of tin to this day. 

97 



Sheet Iron 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Sheet iron had its trial — a brief one. The 
theory was all right, but in practice I soon 
found that for a long time whatever is boiled 
in sheet iron pails takes on a dark purplish- 
black tinge disagreeable to behold. This 
modifies, but never entirely disappears, with 
use. But also sheet iron soon burns out and 
develops pin holes in the bottom. 

Agate or enamel ware is pleasing to the 
eye and easily kept clean. But a hard blow 
means a crack or chip in the enameled sur- 
face, and hard blows are frequent. An 
enamel ware kettle, or even cup or plate, 
soon opens seams and chasms. Then it may 
as well be thrown away, for you can never 
keep it clean. 

A very light iron pot is durable and cooks 
well. Two of these of a size to nest together, 
with the coffee pot inside, make not a bad 
combination for a pack trip. Most people 
are satisfied with them ; but for a perfect and 
balanced equipment even light-gauge iron 
is still too heavy. 

For a long time I had no use for alumi- 
98 



THE COOK OUTFIT 



num. It was too soft, went to pieces, and 
got out of shape too easily. Then by good 
fortune I chanced to buy a pail or kettle of 
an aluminum alloy. That one pail I have 
used constantly for five years on all sorts of 
trips. It shows not a single dent or bend, 
and inside is as bright as a dollar. The ideal 
material was found. 

Short experience taught me, however, 
that even this aluminum alloy was not best 
for every item of the culinary outfit. 

The coffee pot, kettles, and plates may be 
of the alloy, for it has the property of hold- 
ing heat, but by that very same token an 
aluminum cup is an abomination. The 
coffee or tea cools before you can get your 
lips next the metal. For the same reason 
spoons and forks are better of steel ; and of 
course it stands to reason that the cutting 
edge of a knife must be of that material. 
The aluminum frying pans I have found 
unsatisfactory for several reasons. The 
metal is not porous enough to take grease, 
as does the steel pan, so that unless watched 

99 



Aluminum 



Utensils 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

very closely flapjacks, mush, and the like are 
too apt to stick and burn. In the second 
place they get too hot, unless favored with 
more than their share of attention. In the 
third place, in the case of the two I have 
owned, I have been unable to keep the patent 
handle on for more than three weeks after 
purchase. 

Premising, then, the above considerations, 
as regards material, let us examine now the 
kind and variety necessary to the most elab- 
orate trip you will take, at the same time 
keeping in mind the fact that you can travel 
with merely a tin cup if you have to. 

Do not be led astray into buying a made- 
Made-up up outfit. The two-man set consists of a 
coffee pot, two kettles, a fry pan, two each 
of plates, cups, soup bowls, knives, forks, 
teaspoons, and dessert spoons — everything 
of aluminum. All fit into the largest kettle, 
plates and fry pan on top, and weigh but five 
pounds. The idea is good, but you will be 
able to modify it to advantage. 1 

1 Abercrombie & Fitch handle the aluminum alloy. 
100 



THE COOK OUTFIT 

Get for a two-man outfit two tin cups 
with the handles riveted, not soldered. They 
will drop into the aluminum coffee pot. 
Omit the soup bowls. Buy good steel knives 
and forks with blackwood or horn handles. A Good 
Let the forks be four-tined, if possible. utfit 
Omit the teaspoons. Do not make the mis- 
take of tin dessert spoons. Purchase a half 
dozen of white metal. All these things will 
go inside the aluminum coffee pot, which 
will nest in the two aluminum kettles. Over 
the top you invert four aluminum plates 
and a small tin milk pan for bread mixing 
and dish washing. The latter should be of 
a size to fit accurately over the top of the 
larger kettle. This combination will tuck 
away in a canvas case about nine inches in 
diameter and nine high. You will want a 
medium-size steel fry pan, with handle of 
the same piece of metal — not riveted. The 
latter comes off. The outfit as modified will 
weigh but a pound more than the other, and 
is infinitely handier. 

There are several methods of cooking 
101 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

bread. The simplest — and the one you will 
adopt on a foot trip — is to use your frying 
pan. The bread is mixed, set in the warmth 
a few moments to stiffen, then the frying 
pan is propped up in front of the blaze. 
When one side of the bread is done, you 
turn it over. 

The second method, and that almost uni- 

Ovens 

versally employed in the West, is by means 
of the Dutch oven. The latter instrument is 
in shape like a huge and heavy iron kettle 
on short legs, and provided with a massive 
iron cover. A hole is dug, a fire built in 
the hole, the oven containing its bread set 
in on the resultant coals, and the hole filled 
in with hot earth and ashes. It makes very 
good bread, but is a tremendous nuisance. 
You have the weight of the machine to 
transport, the hole to dig, and an extra fire 
to make. It also necessitates a shovel. 

That the Westerner carries such an un- 
wieldy affair about with him has been 
mainly, I think, because of his inability to 
get a good reflector. The perfect baker of 
102 



THE COOK OUTFIT 

this sort should be constructed at such angles 
of top and bottom that the heat is reflected 
equally front and back, above and below. 
This requires some mathematics. The aver- 
age reflector is built of light tin by the vil- 
lage tinsmith. It throws the heat almost 




Folding Aluminum Reflector Oven. 

anywhere. The pestered woodsman shifts 
it, shifts the bread pan, shifts the loaf try- 
ing to "get an even scald on the pesky 
thing." The bread is scorched at two cor- 
ners and raw at the other two, brown on top, 
but pasty at the bottom. He burns his 
hands. If he persists, he finds that a dozen 
bakings tarnish the tin beyond polish, so that 
at last the heat hardly reflects at all. He 
probably ends by shooting it full of holes. 
And next trip, being unwilling to bake in 
103 



Reflector 



Baker 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the frying pan while he has a horse to carry 
for him, he takes along the same old piece 
of ordnance — the Dutch oven. 

This is no exaggeration. I have been 
there myself. Until this very year I carried 
a Dutch oven on my pack trips. Then I 
made one more try, purchased an aluminum 
baker of Abercrombie & Fitch, and have had 
good bread at minimum trouble. 

I realize that I seem to be recommending 
this firm rather extensively, but it cannot be 
helped. It is not because I know no others, 
for naturally I have been purchasing sport- 
ing goods and supplies in a great many 
places and for a good many years. Nor do 
I recommend everything they make. Only 
along some lines they have carried practical 
ideas to their logical conclusion. The Aber- 
crombie & Fitch balloon silk tents, food 
bags, pack harness, aluminum alloys, and 
reflector ovens completely fill the bill. And 
as they cannot be procured elsewhere, I 
must perhaps seem unduly to advertise this 
one firm. 

104 




o 

o 



o 



> o 

•jd, O 

o 

s » 



5 w 






THE COOK OUTFIT 

Their aluminum baker, then, I found to 
be a joy. I put the bread in the pan, stuck 
the reflector in front of my regular cooking 
fire, and went ahead with dinner. It re- 
quired absolutely no more attention. By 
the time I was ready to dish up grub, the 
bread was done. That was all there was to 
it. The angles are correct, and the alumi- 
num is easily kept bright. When not in use 
it folds to an inch thick, and about a foot 
by a foot and a half. It weighs only about 
two pounds. A heavy canvas case protects 
it and the bread pan. I pack it between 
blankets, and never know it is there ; whereas 
the Dutch oven was always a problem. The 
cost was three dollars. 

Food is best transported in bags. Cotton Food Bags 
drill, or even empty flour sacks are pretty 
good on a pack horse; but in canoe and 
forest traveling you will want something 
waterproof. Even horseback a waterproof 
bag is better, for it keeps out the dust. 
Again I must refer you to Abercrombie & 
Fitch. Their food bags are of light, water- 
105 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

proof, and durable material, and cost only 
from a dollar to a dollar and a half a dozen, 
according to size. 

Of course on a tramp you will carry no 
extra conveniences in the way of fire irons, 
but will use as cooking range two green logs 




Use of Parallel Logs. 

laid nearly parallel, or rocks placed side by 
side. But with a pack horse, there is no 
reason why you should not relieve yourself 
of this bother. 

Usually two pieces of strap iron about 
thirty inches long and an inch wide are 
employed for this purpose. The ends are 
rested on two stones and the fire built be- 
neath them. In case stones lack, a small 
trench is dug, and the irons laid across that. 
106 



THE COOK OUTFIT 

Mr. Ernest Britten, a Forest Ranger, 
has however invented a contrivance that is 




Use of Ordinary Fire Irons. 

much better. The irons, instead of being 
made of strap iron, are of angle iron. To 
the inside of the L and at each end sharp- 




The Ernest Britten Fire Irons. 



ened legs are swung on a rivet. A squared 
outer corner next the angle iron prevents 

107 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

their spreading, but a rounded inner corner 
permits their being folded flat. When 
used, the legs are opened and stuck upright 
in the ground, the irons being arranged par- 
allel at an appropriate distance from each 
other. Mark these advantages: The irons 
can be driven to any height from the ground 
according as fuel is plenty or scarce. They 
can be leveled absolutely, a thing difficult 
to accomplish with stones and strap irons. 
In case the ground is too hard to admit the 
inspirator insertion of the legs in it, they can be folded 
back, and the irons used across stones in the 
manner of the old strap irons. Moreover, 
and this is important, they weigh no more. 

I have had presented me by Mr. Robert 
Logan of New York, so simple, transport- 
able and efficient a device for kindling fires 
that I have included it in my regular outfit. 
It consists of a piece of small rubber tube 
two feet or so in length, into one end of 
which is forced a brass cylinder three or 
four inches long. The extremity of this 
brass cylinder is then beaten out so that its 
108 



THE COOK OUTFIT 

opening is flattened. Logan calls this in- 
strument an " Inspirator." 

To encourage a fire you apply the brass How to 
nozzle to the struggling blaze, and blow ] 
steadily through the rubber tube. The re- 
sult is an effect midway between a pair of 
bellows and a Bunsen burner. 

Until you have tried it you will have 
difficulty in realizing how quickly wet wood 
will ignite when persuaded by the Inspira- 
tor. I have used it over five months of 
camping, and never have failed to blow up 
a brisk blaze in the foulest conditions of 
weather and fuel. No more heavy chop- 
ping for dry heart-wood, no more ashes in 
the face empurpled by stooping, no more 
frantic waving of the hat that scatters ashes. 
Furthermore, the Inspirator's use is not con- 
fined to wet days alone. If ever you par- 
ticularly desire any individual kettle to boil 
in a hurcy, and that utensil sullenly declines 
to do so, just direct the Inspirator beneath 
it, and in a j iffy it is on the bubble. When 
out of use you wrap the rubber tube around 
109 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the brass nozzle and tuck it away in your 
waistcoat pocket. 

There remains only the necessity of clean- 
ing up. Get three yards or so of toweling 
and cut off pieces as you need them. Keep 
them washed and they will last a long time. 
Borax soap and a cake of Sapolio help; 
but you can clean up dishes without soap. 
Long tough grass bent double makes an 
excellent swab. For washing clothes I 
have found nothing to equal either Fels- 
Naphtha or Frank Siddal's Soap. You soap 
your garments at night, rinse them in the 
morning — and the job is done. No hot 
water, no boiling, little rubbing. And the 
garments are really clean. 



110 



THE COOK OUTFIT 



SUMMARY 



Minimum for comfort 

1 tin cup with riveted 

handle 
1 aluminum coffee pot 
1 aluminum pail 
1 knife, fork, spoon 
1 aluminum plate 
Fry pan 
Food bags 
Dish towel 
Fels-Naphtha or Frank 

Siddal's soap. 



Maximum 

Tin cup 

Aluminum coffee pot 
2 aluminum pails 
Knife, fork, 3 spoons 
2 plates 
Milk pan 
2 fry pans to nest 
Reflector oven 
Food bags 
Fire irons 
Dish towel 
Borax soap 
Sapolio 

Fels-Naphtha or Frank 
Siddal's soap. 



Ill 



GRUB 



CHAPTER VII 

GRUB 

IN no department of outdoor life does Variety 
the mistaken notion of "roughing it" 
work more harm. I have never been 
able to determine why a man should be con- 
tent with soggy, heavy, coarse and indigesti- 
ble food when, with the same amount of 
trouble, the same utensils, and the same 
materials he can enjoy variety and palata- 
bility. To eat a well-cooked dinner it is not 
necessary to carry an elaborate commissary. 
In a later chapter I shall try to show you 
how to combine the simple and limited in- 
gredients at your command into the greatest 
number of dishes. At present we will con- 
cern ourselves strictly with the kind and 
quantity of food you will wish to carry with 
you. 

Necessarily bulk and weight are such 
important considerations that they will at 
115 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

once cut out much you would enjoy. Also 
condensed and desiccated foods are, in a 
few cases, toothsome enough to earn inclu- 
sion — and many are not. Perishability bars 
certain other sorts. But when all is said 
and done there remains an adequate list 
from which to choose. 
Luxuries However closely you confine yourself to 
the bare necessities, be sure to include one 
luxury. This is not so much to eat as for 
the purpose of moral support. I remember 
one trip in the Black Hills on which our 
commissary consisted quite simply of oat- 
meal, tea, salt, and sugar, and a single can 
of peaches. Of course there was game. 
Now if we had found ourselves confined to 
meat, mush, oatmeal pones, and tea, we 
should, after a little, have felt ourselves 
reduced to dull monotony, and after a little 
more we should have begun to long mightily 
for the fleshpots of Deadwood. But that 
can of peaches lurked in the back of our 
minds. By its presence we were not reduced 
to meat, mush, oatmeal pones, and tea. 
116 



Pet Luxury 



GRUB 

Occasionally we would discuss gravely the 
advisibility of opening it, but I do not be- 
lieve any one of us down deep in his heart 
meant it in sober earnest. What was the 
mere tickling of the palate compared with 
the destruction of a symbol. 

Somewhat similarly I was once on a trip Tai 
with an Englishman who, when we out- 
fitted, insisted on marmalade. In vain we 
pointed out the fact that glass always broke. 
Finally we compromised on one jar, which 
we wrapped in the dish towel and packed 
in the coffee pot. For five weeks that un- 
opened jar of marmalade traveled with us, 
and the Englishman was content. Then it 
got broken — as they always do. From that 
time on our friend uttered his daily growl 
or lament over the lack of marmalade. And, 
mind you, he had already gone five weeks 
without tasting a spoonful! 

So include in the list your pet luxury. 
Tell yourself that you will eat it just at the 
psychological moment. It is a great com- 
fort. But to our list : 
117 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Bacon is the stand-by. Get the very best 
you can buy, and the leanest. In a walking 
trip cut off the rind in order to reduce the 
weight. 

Ham is a pleasant variety if you have 
room for it. 

Flour. — Personally I like the whole wheat 
best. It bakes easier than the white, has 
more taste, and mixes with other things 
quite as well. It comes in 10-pound sacks, 
which makes it handy to carry. 

Pancake Flour, either buckwheat or not, 
makes flapjacks, of course, but also bakes 
into excellent loaves, and is a fine base for 
camp cake. 

Boston Brown Bread Flour is self -rising, 
on the principle of the flapjack flour. It 
makes genuine brown bread, toothsome 
quick biscuits with shortening, and a glor- 
ious boiled or steamed pudding. If your 
outfitter does not know of it, tell him it is 
made at San Jose, California. 

Cornmeal. — Get the yellow. It makes 
good Johnny cake, puddings, fried mush, 
118 



GRUB 

and unleavened corn pone, all of which are 
palatable, nourishing, and easy to make. If 
you have a dog with you, it is the easiest 
ration for between-meat seasons. A quar- 
ter cup swells up into an abundant meal for 
the average-sized canine. 

Hominy. — The coarse sort makes a good 
variety. 

Tapioca. — Utterly unsatisfactory over an 
open fire. Don't take it. 

Rice. — I think rice is about the best ?, ice ; * 

Ideal 

stand-by of all. In the first place, ten pounds stand-by 
of rice will go farther than ten pounds of 
any other food; a half cup, which weighs 
small for its bulk, boils up into a half kettle- 
ful, a quantity ample for four people. In 
the second place, it contains a great per- 
centage of nutriment, and is good stuff to 
travel on. In the third place, it is of that 
sort of palatability of which one does not 
tire. In the fourth place it can be served 
in a variety of ways: boiled plain; boiled 
with raisins ; boiled with rolled oats ; boiled, 
then fried* made into baked puddings; 
119 



the Best 
Brands 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

baked in gems or loaves; mixed with flap- 
jacks. Never omit it from your list. 

Baking Powder. — Do not buy an un- 
known brand at a country store; you will 
find it bad for your insides after a very 
short use. Royal and Price's are both good. 

Tea and Coffee. — Even confirmed coffee 
drinkers drop away from their allegiance 
after being out a short time. Tea seems to 
wear better in the woods. Personally, I 
never take coffee at all, unless for the benefit 
of some other member of the party. 

Potatoes are generally out of the ques- 
tion, although you can often stick a small 
sack in your kyacks. They are very grate- 
ful when you can carry them. A desicca- 
ted article is on the market. Soaked up it 
takes on somewhat the consistency of rather 
watery mashed potatoes. It is not bad. 

Onions are a luxury; but, like the pota- 
toes, can sometimes be taken, and add 
largely to flavor. 

Sugar. — My experience is, that one eats 
a great deal more sweets out of doors than 
120 




When you quit the trail for a day's rest 



GRUB 

at home. I suppose one uses up more fuel. 
In any case I have many a time run out of 
sugar, and only rarely brought any home. 
Saxin, crystallose and saccharine are all ex- 

. ..... Tablets 

cellent to relieve the weight m this respect. 
They come as tablets, each a little larger 
than the head of a pin. A tablet represents 
the sweetening power of a lump of sugar. 
Dropped in the tea, two of them will sweeten 
quite as well as two heaping spoonfuls 
and you could never tell the difference. A 
man could carry in his waistcoat pocket vials 
containing the equivalent of twenty-five 
pounds of sugar. Their advantage in light- 
ening a back load is obvious. 

Fats. — Lard is the poorest and least 
wholesome. Cottolene is better. Olive oil 
is best. The latter can be carried in a screw- 
top tin. Less of it need be used than of the 
others. It gives a delicious flavor to any- 
thing fried in it. 

Mush. — Rolled oats are good, but do not 
agree with some people. Cream of Wheat 
and Germea are more digestible. Person- 
al 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

ally I prefer to take my cereal in the form 
of biscuits. It "sticks to the ribs" better. 
Three-quarters of a cup of cereal will make 
a full supply of mush for three people, leav- 
ing room for mighty little else. On the 
other hand, a full cup of the same cereal will 
make six biscuits — two apiece for our three 
people. In other words, the biscuits allow 
one to eat a third more cereal in half the 
bulk. 

Dried Fruit. — This is another class of 
food almost to be classed as condensed. It 
is easily carried, is light, and when cooked 
swells considerably. Raisins lead the list, as 
they cook in well with any of the Hour stuffs 
and rice, and are excellent to eat raw as a 
lunch. Dried figs come next. I do not 
mean the layer tigs, but those dried round 
like prunes. They can be stewed, eaten 
raw, or cooked in puddings. Dried apples 
are good stewed, or soaked and fried in a 
little sugar. Prunes are available, raw or 
cooked. Peaches and apricots I do not care 
for, but they complete the list. 



GRUB 

Salt and Pepper. — A little cayenne in hot a Good 

water is better than whiskey for a chill. 

J a Chill 

Cinnamon. — Excellent to sprinkle on 
apples, rice, and puddings. A flavoring 
to camp cake. One small box will last a 
season. 

Milk. — Some people like the sticky 
sweetened Borden milk. I think it very 
sickish and should much prefer to go with- 
out. The different brands of evaporated 
creams are palatable, but too bulky and 
heavy for ordinary methods of transporta- 
tion. A can or so may sometimes be in- 
cluded, however. Abercrombie & Fitch 
offer a milk powder. They claim that a 
spoonful in water "produces a sweet whole- 
some milk." It may be wholesome; it cer- 
tainly is sweet — but as for being milk! I 
should like to see the cow that would ac- 
knowledge it. 

Syrup. — Mighty good on flapjacks and 

bread, and sometimes to be carried when 

animals are many. The easiest to get that 

tastes like anything is the "Log Cabin" 

123 



Influence on 
Cooking 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

maple syrup. It comes in a can of a handy 
shape. 

Beans. — Another rich stand-by; rich in 
sustenance, light in weight, and compressed 
in bulk. Useless to carry in the mountains, 
where, as a friend expressed it, "all does not 
boil that bubbles." Unless you have all day 
and unlimited firewood they will not cook 
in a high altitude. Lima beans are easier 
cooked. A few chilis are nice to add to the 
pot by way of variety. 

Pilot Bread or Hardtack. — If you use it 
at all — which of course must be in small 
quantities for emergencies — be sure to get 
the coarsest. It comes in several grades, 
and the finer crumble. The coarse, how- 
ever, breaks no finer than the size of a 
dollar, and so is edible no matter how badly 
smashed. With raisins it makes a good 
lunch. 

Butter, like milk, is a luxury I do without 
on a long trip. The lack is never felt after 
a day or two. I believe you can get it in 



air-tight cans. 



124 



GRUB 

Macaroni is bulky, but a single package 
goes a long way, and is both palatable and 
nutritious. Break it into pieces an inch or 
so long and stow it in a grub bag. 

That finishes the list of the bulk groceries, canned 
Canned goods, in general, are better left at c 
home. You are carrying the weight not 
only of the vegetable, but also of the juice 
and the tin. One can of tomatoes merely 
helps out on one meal, and occupies enough 
space to accommodate eight meals of rice; 
or enough weight to balance two dozen meals 
of the same vegetable. Both the space of 
the kyacks and the carrying power of your 
horse are better utilized in other directions. 
I assume you never will be fool enough to 
weight your own back with such things. 

So much for common sense and theory. 
As a matter of practice, and if you have 
enough animals to avoid overloading, you 
will generally tuck in a can here and there. 
These are to be used only on great occasions, 
but grace mightily holidays and very tired 
times. 

125 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Good and 
Bad Canned 
Goods 



Now some canned goods make you feel 
you are really getting something worth 
while; and others do not. 

Corn is probably the most satisfactory of 
all. It is good warmed up, made into frit- 
ters, baked into a pudding, or mixed with 
lima beans as succotash. 

Peas on the other hand are no good. Too 
much water, and too little pea is the main 
trouble, which combines discouragingly with 
the fact that a mouthful of peas is not nearly 
as hearty or satisfying as a mouthful of 
corn. 

Tomatoes are carried extensively, but are 
very bulky and heavy for what you get out 
of them. 

Canned Fruit is sheer mad luxury. A 
handful of the dried article would equal a 
half dozen cans. 

Salmon. — A pleasant and compact varia- 
tion on ordinary fare. It can be eaten cold, 
as it comes from the can; or can be fried or 
baked. 

Picnic Stuff, such as potted chicken, 
126 



GRUB 

devilled ham and the rest of it are abomi- 
nations. 

Corned Beef is fair. 

To sum up, I think that if I were to go 
in for canned goods, I should concentrate 
on corn and salmon, with one or two corned 
beef on the side. 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this Desj 
chapter modern desiccation of foods has Foods 
helped the wilderness traveler to some ex- 
tent. I think I have tried about everything 
in this line. In the following list I shall 
mention those I think good, and also those 
particularly bad. Any not mentioned it 
may be implied that I do not care for 
myself, but am willing to admit that you 
may. 

Canned Eggs. — The very best thing of 
this kind is made by the National Bakers' 
Egg Co., of Sioux City. It is a coarse yel- 
low granulation and comes in one-pound 
screw-top tin cans. Each can contains the 
equivalent of five dozen eggs, and costs, I 
think, only $1.25. A tablespoon of the pow- 
127 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

der and two of water equals an egg. With 
that egg you can make omelets and scram- 
bled eggs, which you could not possibly tell 
from the new-laid. Two cans, weighing 
two pounds, will last you all summer; and 
think of the delight of an occasional egg for 
breakfast! The German canned eggs — 
HofFmeir's is sold in this country — are 
rather evil tasting, do not beat up light, and 
generally decline sullenly to cook. 

Soups. — Some of the compressed soups 
are excellent. The main difficulty is that 
they are put up in flimsy paper packages, 
difficult to carry without breaking. Also I 
have found that when you take but two ket- 
tles, you are generally hungry enough to 
begrudge one of them to anything as thin 
as even the best soup. However, occasion- 
ally a hot cupful is a good thing; and I 
should always include a few packages. The 
most filling and nourishing is the German 
Erbswurst army ration called Erbswurst. It comes in 
a sausage-shaped package, which is an ex- 
ception to the rule in that it is strongly 
128 



GRUB 

constructed. You cut off an inch and boil 
it. The taste is like that of a thick bean 
soup. It is said to contain all the elements 
of nutrition. 

Knorr's packages make good soup when 
you get hold of the right sort. We have 
tried them all, and have decided that they 
can be divided into two classes — those that 
taste like soup, and the dishwater brand. 
The former comprise pea, bean, lentil, rice, 
and onion ; the latter, all others. 

Maggi's tablets are smaller than Knorr's soup 
and rather better packed. The green pea 
and lentil make really delicious scup. 

Bouillon capsules of all sorts I have no use 
for. They serve to flavor hot water, and 
that is about all. 

Desiccated Vegetables come in tablets 
about four inches square and a quarter of an 
inch thick. A quarter of one of these tablets 
makes a dish for two people. You soak it 
several hours, then boil it. In general the 
results are all alike, and equally tasteless and 
loathsome. The most notable exception is 
129 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the string beans. They come out quite like 
the original vegetable, both in appear- 
ance and taste. I always take some along. 
Enough for twenty meals could be carried 
in the inside pocket of your waistcoat. 

Julie 11 ne, made by Prevet. A French 
mixture of carrots and other vegetables cut 
into strips and dried. When soaked and 
boiled it swells to its original size. A half 
cupful makes a meal for two. It ranks 
with the string beans in being thoroughly 
palatable. These two preparations are better 
than canned goods, and are much more easily 
carried. 

Potatoes, sdiVin, saeeharine, and er/jstallosc 
I have already mentioned. 

That completes the most elaborate grub 
list I should care to recommend. As to a 
quantitative list, that is a matter of consider- 
ably more elasticity. I have kept track of 
the exact quantity of food consumed on a 
great many trips, and have come to the con- 
clusion that anything but the most tentative 
statements must spring from lack of experi- 
130 



GRUB 

ence. A man paddling a canoe, or carrying 
a pack all day, will eat a great deal more 
than would the same man sitting a horse. A 
trip in the clear, bracing air of the mountains 
arouses keener appetites than a desert jour- 
ney near the borders of Mexico, and a list of 
supplies ample for the one would be woefully 
insufficient for the other. The variation is 
really astonishing. 

Therefore the following figures must be 
experimented with rather cautiously. They 
represent an average of many of my own 
trips. 



ONE MONTH S SUPPLIES FOR ONE MAN ON A FOREST 
TRIP 

15 lbs. flour (includes 150 saccharine tablets 

flour, pancake flour, 8 lbs. cereal 

cornmeal in propor- 1 lb. raisins 

tion to suit) Salt and pepper 

15 lbs. meat (bacon or 5 lbs. beans 

boned ham) 3 lbs. or h doz. Erbswurst 

8 lbs. rice 2 lbs. or \ doz. dried veg- 

\ lb. baking powder etables 

1 lb. tea 2 lbs. dried potatoes 

2 lbs. sugar 1 can Bakers' eggs. 

131 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



ONE MONTH S SUPPLIES FOR ONE MAN ON PACK HORSE 
TRIP 



15 lbs. flour supplies 
(flour, flapjack flour, 
cornmeal) 

15 lbs. ham and bacon 

2 lbs. hominy 

4 lbs. rice 

\ lb. baking powder 

1 lb. coffee 
\ lb. tea 

20 lbs. potatoes 
A few onions 

2 lbs. sugar 

150 saccharine tablets 

3 lb. pail cottolene, or can 

olive oil 



3 lbs. cream of wheat 
5 lbs. mixed dried fruit 
Salt, pepper, cinnamon 
3 cans evaporated cream 
h gal. syrup or honey 

5 lbs. beans 
Chilis 

Pilot bread (in flour sack) 

6 cans corn 

6 cans salmon 
2 cans corned beef 
1 can Bakers' eggs 
h doz. Maggi's soups 
J doz. dried vegetables — 
beans and Julienne. 



These lists are not supposed to be "eaten 
down to the bone." A man cannot figure that 
Grub List closely. If you buy just what is included in 
too Closely them you will be well fed, but will probably 
have a little left at the end of the month. If 
you did not, you would probably begin to 
worry about the twenty-fifth day. And this 
does not pay. Of course if you get game and 
fish, you can stay out over the month. 



132 



CAMP COOKERY 



CHAPTER VIII 

CAMP COOKERY 

THE secret of successful camp cookery Secret of 
is experimentation and boldness. If c 
you have not an ingredient, substi- 
tute the nearest thing to it; or something 
in the same general class of foods. After 
you get the logic of what constitutes a pud- 
ding, or bread, or cake, or anything else, 
cut loose from cook-books and invent with 
what is contained in your grub bags. Do 
not be content until, by shifting trials, you 
get your proportions just right for the best 
results. Even though a dish is quite edible, 
if the possibility of improving it exists, dq 
not be satisfied with repeating it. ^ r 

This chapter will not attempt to be a 
camp cook-book. Plenty of the latter can 
be bought. It will try to explain dishes not 
found in camp cook-books, but perhaps bet- 
135 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

ter adapted to the free and easy culinary 
conditions that ohtain over an open fire and 
in the open air. 

After bacon gets a little old, parboil the 
slices before frying them. 

Bread. — The secret of frying-pan bread 
is a medium stiff batter in the proportion 
of one cup of flour, one teaspoon of salt, one 
tablespoon of sugar, and a heaping teaspoon 
of baking powder. This is poured into the 
well-greased and hot pan, and set flat near 
the fire. In a very few moments it will rise 
and stiffen. Prop the pan nearly perpen- 
dicular before the blaze. When done on 
one side, turn over. A clean sliver or a fork 
stuck through the center of the loaf will tell 
you when it is done: if the sliver comes out 
clean, without dough sticking to it, the bak- 
ing is finished. 

In an oven the batter must be somewhat 
thinner. Stiff batter makes close-grained 
heavy bread; thin batter makes light and 
crisp bread. The problem is to strike the 
happy medium, for if too stiff the loaf is 
136 



CAMP COOKERY 

soggy, and if too thin it sticks to the pan. 
Dough should be wet only at the last mo- 
ment, after the pan is ready, and should be 
lightly stirred, never kneaded or beaten. 

Biscuits are made in the same way, with 
the addition of a dessert-spoonful of cotto- 
lene, or a half spoonful of olive oil. 

Cornbread is a mixture of half cornmeal 
and half flour, with salt, baking powder, and 
shortening. 

Unleavened bread properly made is bet- 
ter as a steady diet than any of the baking 

powder products. The amateur cook is T 

. . . Bread 

usually disgusted with it because it turns out 

either soggy or leathery. The right method, 
however, results in crisp, cracker-like bread, 
both satisfying and nourishing. It is made 
as follows: 

Take three-quarters of a cup of either 
cornmeal, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, or 
Germea, and mix it thoroughly with an equal 
quantity of flour. Add a teaspoonful of 
salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, and a tea- 
spoonful of olive oil or shortening. Be 
137 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

sure not to exceed the amount of the latter 
ingredient. Mix in just enough water to 
wet thoroughly, and beat briskly; the result 
should be almost crumbly. Mold biscuits 
three inches across and a quarter of an inch 
thick, place in a hot greased pan, and bake 
before a hot fire. The result is a thoroughly 
cooked, close-grained, crisp biscuit. 

Corn pone is made in the same manner 
with cornmeal as the basis. 

Flapjack flour is mixed with water sim- 
ply; but you will find that a tablespoonful 
of sugar not only adds to the flavor, but 
causes it to brown crisper. It is equally good 
Fiapjohn baked in loaves. The addition of an extra 
spoonful of sugar, two eggs (from your 
canned desiccated eggs), raisins and cinna- 
mon makes a delicious camp cake. This is 
known as "fiapjohn" — a sort of sublimated 
flapjack. 

Puddings. — The general logic of a camp- 
baked pudding is this: 

You have first of all your base, which is 
generally of rice, cornmeal, or breakfast 
138 



CAMP COOKERY 

food previously boiled; second, your filling, 
which may be raisins, prunes, figs, or any 
other dried fruit; third, your sweetening, 
which is generally sugar, but may be syrup, 
honey, or saccharine tablets; fourth, your 
seasoning, which must be what you have — ■ How to 
cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, etc., and last, P y d ^ ines 
your coagulating material, which must be a 
small portion of your egg powder. With 
this general notion you can elaborate. 

The portions of materials, inclusive of 
other chance possessions, the arrangement 
of the ingredients determines the naming 
of the product. Thus you can mix your 
fruit all through the pudding, or you can 
place it in layers between strata of the 
mixture. 

As an example: Boil one-half cupful of 
rice with raisins, until soft, add one-half 
cupful of sugar, a half spoonful of cinna- 
mon, and a tablespoonful of egg powder. 
Add water (water mixed with condensed 
milk, if you have it) until quite thin. Bake 
in moderate heat. Another: Into two 
139 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Experiment 
Freely in 
Cooking 



cups of boiling water pour a half cup of 
cornmeal. Sprinkle it in slowly, and stir 
in order to prevent lumps. As soon as it 
thickens, which will be in half a minute, re- 
move from the fire. Mix in a quarter cup of 
syrup, some figs which have been soaked, a 
spoonful of egg powder, milk if you have 
it, and the flavoring — if you happen to have 
tucked in a can of ginger, that is the best. 
The mixture should be thin. Bake before 
moderate fire. 

I am not going on to elaborate a number 
of puddings by name; that is where the cook- 
books make their mistake. But with this 
logical basis, you will soon invent all sorts of 
delicious combinations. Some will be fail- 
ures, no doubt ; but after you get the knack 
you will be able to improvise on the least 
promising materials. 

Do not forget that mixing ingredients is 
always worth trying. A combination of 
rice and oatmeal boiled together does not 
sound very good, but it is delicious, and quite 
unlike either of its component parts. I 
140 



Make Tea 



CAMP COOKERY 

instance it merely as an example of a dozen 
similar. 

Tea. — The usual way of cooking tea is to 
pour the hot water on the leaves. If used 
immediately this is the proper way. When, 
however, as almost invariably happens about 
camp, the water is left standing on the leaves 
for some time, the tannin is extracted. This How to 
makes a sort of tea soup, at once bitter and 
unwholesome. A simple and easy way is to 
provide yourself with a piece of cheesecloth 
about six inches square. On the center drop 
your dose of dry tea leaves. Gather up the 
corners, and tie into a sort of loose bag. 
Pour the hot water over this, and at the end 
of five minutes fish out the bag. Untie it, 
shake loose the tea leaves, and tuck away 
until next time. The tea in the pot can 
then be saved for the late fisherman without 
fear of lining his stomach with leather. 
Also it is no trouble. 

Coffee,, too, is more often bad than good 
in the field. The usual method is to put a 
couple of handfuls in cold water, bring it 
141 



On Coffee 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

to a boil, and then set it aside to settle. 
Sometimes it is good that way, and some- 
times it isn't. A method that will always 
succeed, however, is as follows: Bend an 
ordinary piece of hay wire into the shape of 
a hoop, slightly larger than the mouth of 
your pot. On it sew a shallow cheesecloth 
bag. Put your ground coffee in the bag, 
suspend in the coffee pot, and pour the hot 
water through. If you like it extra strong, 
pour it through twice. The result is drip 
coffee, delicious, and without grounds. To 
clean the bag turn it inside out and pour 
water through. Then flatten the hay wire 
hoop slightly and tuck it away inside the pot 
with the cups. 

Mush. — The ideal method of cooking 
mush is of course a double boiler and just 
the amount of water the cereal will take up. 
Over an open fire, that would result in a 
burned product and a caked kettle. The 
best way is to make it very thin at first, and 
to boil it down to the proper consistency. 

Beans will boil more quickly if you add 
142 



CAMP COOKERY 

a pinch of soda. An exaggerated pinch, 
however, causes them to taste soapy, so be- 
ware. If the water boils too low, add more 
hot water, never cold; the latter toughens 
them. When soft smash them with a fork, 
add water, and cook with fat in the frying 
pan. 

Hardtack. — A most delicious dish to be A g uick 
eaten immediately is made of pilot bread Meal 
soaked soft, and then fried. The same 
cracker fried in olive oil, without being pre- 
viously soaked, comes out crisp and brown, 
but without impaired transportability. When 
butter is scarce this is a fine way to treat 
them in preparation for a cold lunch by the 
way. 

Macaroni should be plunged in boiling 
water, otherwise it gets tough. What re- 
mains should be baked in mixture with 
whatever else is left — whether meal, cereal, 
or vegetable. 

Corn. — After you have eaten what you 
want of the warmed-up, mix what is left 
with a spoonful or so of sugar, some diluted 
143 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

milk, and a spoonful of egg powder. Bake 
it. 

Salmon may be eaten cold, but is better 
hashed up with bread crumbs, well moist- 
ened, and baked before a hot fire. 

These are but a few general hints which 

you will elaborate on. The Price Baking 

Cook-Books Powder Co. publish gratis a "Mine and 

Ranch Cookery" which is practical. Also 

read Nessmuk's Woodcraft. 

A LIST OF SOME OF THE DISHES POSSIBLE WITHOUT TOO 
MUCH TROUBLE FROM THE GRUB LIST GIVEN IN THE 
LAST CHAPTER 



1. 


Fried bacon 


14. 


Dumplings 


2. 


Fried ham 


15. 


Boston brown bread 


3. 


Broiled ham 


16. 


Brown bread gems 


4. 


Boiled ham 


17. 


Boiled hominy 


5. 


Plain bread 


18. 


Fried hominy 


6. 


Biscuits 


19. 


Hominy pudding 


7. 


Johnny cake 


20. 


Indian puddings (three 


8. 


Oatmeal or cereal muf- 




or four sorts) 




fins 


21. 


Cereal puddings (three 


9. 


Pancakes or flapjacks 




or four sorts) 


10. 


Buckwheat bread 


22. 


Oatmeal mush 


11. 


Corn pone 


23. 


Oatmeal and rice mush 


12. 


Unleavened bread 


24. 


Fried mush. 


13. 


Spice cakes 


25. 


Boiled rice 



144 



CAMP COOKERY 



26. 


Rice and raisins 


41. 


Baked beans 


27. 


Rice cakes 


42. 


Fried hardtack 


28. 


Rice biscuits 


43. 


Boiled macaroni 


29. 


Rice pudding 


44. 


Baked macaroni 


30. 


Tea 


45. 


Corn 


31. 


Coffee 


46. 


Corn fritters 


32. 


Baked potatoes 


47. 


Corn pudding 


33. 


Boiled potatoes 


48. 


Succotash Grub List 


34. 


Mashed potatoes 


49. 


Baked salmon 


35. 


Fried potatoes 


50. 


Baked corned beef 


36. 


Boiled onions 


51. 


Fried corned beef 


37. 


Fried onions. 


52. 


Omelet 


38. 


Stewed fruits 


53. 


Scrambled eggs 


39. 


Boiled beans 


54. 


Soup (several kinds) 


40. 


Fried beans 


55. 


Beans 




56. Julienne, 


boiled or fried. 



This leaves out of account the various 
hybrid mixtures of "what is left," and the 
meal and fish dishes in a good sporting 
country. As a matter of fact mixtures gen- 
erally bake better than they boil. 



145 



HORSE OUTFITS 



w 



CHAPTER IX 

HORSE OUTFITS 



K have now finished the detailing Ridin e 

Saddles 

of your wear and food. There 



remains still the problem of how 
you and it are to be transported. You may 
travel through the wilderness by land or by 
water. In the former case you will either 
go afoot or on horseback; in the latter you 
will use a canoe. Let us now consider in 
detail the equipments necessary for these 
different sorts of travel. 

You will find the Mexican or cowboy sad- 
dle the only really handy riding saddle. I 
am fully aware of the merits of the McClel- 
lan and army saddles, but they lack what 
seems to me one absolute essential, and that 
is the pommel or horn. By wrapping your 
rope about the latter you can lead reluc- 
tant horses, pull firewood to camp, extract 
bogged animals, and rope shy stock. With- 

I I!) 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

out it you are practically helpless in such 
circumstances. The only advantage claimed 
for the army saddle is its lightness. The 
difference in weight between it and the cow- 
boy saddle need not be so marked as is ordi- 
narily the case. A stock saddle, used daily 
in roping heavy cows, weighs quite properly 
from thirty-five to fifty pounds. The same 





Sawbuck Saddle. Riding Saddle. 

saddle, of lighter leather throughout, made 
by a conscientious man, need weigh but 
twenty-five or thirty, and will still be strong 
and durable enough for all ordinary use. 
My own weighs but twenty-five pounds, and 
has seen some very hard service. 

The stirrup leathers are best double, and 

should be laced, never buckled. In fact the 

logic of a wilderness saddle should be that it 

can be mended in any part with thongs. The 

150 



HORSE OUTFITS 

stirrups themselves should have light hood 
tapaderos, or coverings. They will help in 
tearing through brush, will protect your 
toes, and will keep your feet dry in case of 
rain. I prefer the round rather than the 
square skirts. 

In a cow country you will hear many and 
heated discussions over the relative merits 
of the single broad cinch crossing rather far ' 
back; and the double cinches, one just behind 
the shoulder and the other on the curve of 
the belly. The double cinch is universally 
used by Wyoming and Arizona cowmen; 
and the "center fire" by Californians and 
Mexicans — and both with equally heated 
partisanship. Certainly as it would be dif- 
ficult to say which are the better horsemen, 
so it would be unwise to attempt here a dog- 
matic settlement of the controversy. 

For ordinary mountain travel, however, 
I think there can be no doubt that the double 
cinch is the better. It is less likely to slip 
forward or back on steep hills; it need not 
be so tightly cinched as the "center fire," and 
151 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

can be adjusted, according to which you 
draw the tighter, for up or down hill. The 
front cinch should be made of hair. I have 
found that the usual cord cinches are apt to 
wear sores just back of the shoulder. Web- 



How to 

Attach the 
Cinch 





Proper Way of Ar- 
ranging Straps on 
Holster and Saddle. 



Saddle Holster — Usual Ar- 
rangement of Straps. 



bing makes a good back cinch. The handi- 
est rig for attaching them is that used by 
the Texan and Wyoming cowmen. It is a 
heavy oiled latigo strap, punched with buckle 
holes, passing through a cinch ring supplied 
with a large buckle tongue. You can reach 
over and pull it up a hole or so without dis- 
mounting. It differs from an ordinary 
buckle only in that, in case the rig breaks, 
152 



HORSE OUTFITS 



the strap can still be fastened like an ordi- 
nary latigo in the diamond knot. 

On the right-hand side of your pommel 
will be a strap and buckle for your riata. A 
pair of detachable leather saddle bags are 
handy. The saddle blanket should be thick 
and of first quality; and should be sur- 
mounted by a "corona" to prevent wrinkling 
under the slight movement of the saddle. 

A heavy quirt is indispensable, both for 
your own mount, if he prove refractory, but 
also for the persuasion of the pack horse. 

When with a large outfit, however, I al- 
ways carry a pea shooter or sling shot. With 
it a man can spot a straying animal at con- 
siderable distance, generally much to the 
truant's astonishment. After a little it will 
rarely be necessary to shoot; a mere snap- 
ping of the rubbers will bring every horse 
into line. 

The handiest and best rig for a riding 

bridle can be made out of an ordinary halter. 

Have your harness maker fasten a snap 

hook to either side and just above the cor- 

153 



Saddle 
Bags and 
Saddle 
Blankets 



Quirts 



Sling Shots 



Bridles 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



Riatas and 
Spurs 



Scabbards 



ners of the horse's mouth. When you start 
in the morning you snap your bit and reins 
to the hooks. When you arrive in the eve- 
ning you simply unsnap the bit, and leave 
the halter on. 

Rope and spurs will be necessary. I pre- 
fer the Mexican grass rope with a brass 
honda to the rawhide riata, because I am 
used to it. I once used a linen rope with 
weighted honda that was soft and threw 
well. The spurs will be of good steel, of 
the cowboy pattern, with blunt rowels. The 
smaller spurs are not so easy to reach a small 
horse with, and are apt to overdo the matter 
when they do. The wide spur leathers are 
to protect the boot from chafing on the 
stirrups. 

There remains only your rifle to attend 
to. The usual scabbard is invariably slung 
too far forward. I always move the sling 
strap as near the mouth of the scabbard as 
it will go. The other sling strap I detach 
from the scabbard and hang loopwise from 
the back latigo-ring. Then I thrust the 
154 



HORSE OUTFITS 

muzzle of the scabbarded rifle between the 
stirrup leathers and through this loop, hang 
the forward sling strap over the pommel — 
and there I am! The advantage is that I 
can remove rifle and scabbard without un- 
buckling any straps. The gun should hang 
on the left side of the horse so that after 
dismounting you need not walk around him 
to get it. A little experiment will show you 
how near the horizontal you can sling it with- 
out danger of its jarring out. 

So much for your own riding horse. The p ac k 
pack outfit consists of the pack saddle, with 0utfi 
the apparatus to keep it firm; its padding; 
the kyacks, or alforjas — sacks to sling on 
either side ; and the lash rope and cinch with 
which to throw the hitches. 

The almost invariable type of pack saddle p ac k 
is the sawbuck. If it is bought with espe- 
cial reference to the animal it is to be used 
on, it is undoubtedly the best. But nothing 
will more quickly gouge a hole in a horse's 
back than a saddle too narrow or too wide 
for his especial anatomy. A saddle of this 
155 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



sort bolted together can be taken apart for 
easier transportation by baggage or express. 
Another and very good type of pack rig 
is that made from an old riding saddle. The 
stirrup rigging is removed, and an upright 
spike bolted strongly to the cantle. The 
loops of the kyacks are to be hung over the 





Under Side of Pack 
Saddles. 



Shape of Collar Pad- 
far Pack Saddles. 



Aparejos 



horn and this spike. Such a saddle is apt 
to be easy on a horse's back, but is after all 
merely a make-shift for a properly con- 
structed sawbuck. 

I shall only mention the aparejos. This 
rig is used for freighting boxes and odct- 
shaped bundles. It is practically nothing 
but a heavy pad, and is used without kyacks. 
You will probably never be called upon to 

156 



HORSE OUTFITS 

use it; but in another chapter I will describe 
one "sling" in order that you may be fore- 
armed against contingencies. 

We will assume that you are possessed of Pads 
a good sawbuck saddle of the right size for 
your pack animal. It will have the double 
cinch rig. To the under surfaces tack firmly 
two ordinary collar-pads by way of soften- 
ing. Beneath them you will use two blank- 
ets, each as heavy as the one you place under 
your riding saddle. This abundance is nec- 
essary because a pack "rides dead" — that is, 
does not favor the horse as does a living 
rider. By way of warning, however, too 
much is almost as bad as too little. 

The almost universal saddle rigging in use Breasting 
the West over is a breast strap of webbing Breeching 
fastened at the forward points of the sad- 
dle, and a breech strap fastened to the back 
points of the saddle, with guy lines running 
from the top to prevent its falling too far 
down the horse's legs. This, with the double 
cinch, works fairly well. Its main trouble 
is that the breech strap is apt to work up 
157 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

under the horse's tail, and the breast strap 
is likely to shut off his wind at the throat. 

Mr. Ernest Britten, a mountaineer in the 
Sierras, has, however, invented a rig which 
in the nicety of its compensations, and the 
accuracy of its adjustments is perfection. 




E 

Mr. Ernest Britten's Pack Rig. 

Every one becames a convert, and hastens to 
alter his own outfit. 

The breasting is a strap (a) running from 
the point of the saddle to a padded ring in 
the middle of the chest. Thence another 
strap (b) runs to the point of the saddle on 
the other side, where it buckles. A third 
strap (c) in the shape of a loop goes be- 
158 



HORSE OUTFITS 

tween the fore legs and around the front 
cinch. 

The breeching is somewhat more compli- 
cated. I think, however, with a few rivets, The Britten 
straps, and buckles you will be able to alter 
your own saddle in half an hour. 

The back cinch you remove. A short 
strap (d), riveted to the middle of the front 




Ordinary and Inferior Pack Rig Usually Employed. 

cinch, passes back six inches to a ring (e). 
This ring will rest on the middle of the belly. 
From the ring two other straps (ff) ascend 
diagonally to the buckles (g) in the ends of 
the breeching. From the ends of the breech- 
ing other straps (h) attach to what would be 
the back cinch ring (k). That constitutes 
159 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the breeching rig. It is held up by a long 
strap (m) passing from one side to the 
other over the horse's rump through a ring 
on top. The ring is attached to the saddle 
by a short strap (n) . 

Such a rig prevents the breeching from 
riding up or dropping down; it gives the 
horse all his wind going up hill, but holds 
firmly going down; when one part loosens, 
the other tightens ; and the saddle cinch, ex- 
cept to keep the saddle from turning, is 
practically useless and can be left compara- 
tively loose. I cannot too strongly recom- 
mend you, both for your horse's comfort and 
your own, to adopt this rigging. 

The kyacks, as I have said, are two sacks 
to be slung one on each side of the horse. 
They are provided with loops by which to 
hang them over the sawbucks of the saddle, 
and a long strap passes from the outside of 
one across the saddle to a buckle on the out- 
side of the other. 

Undoubtedly the best are those made of 
rawhide. They weigh very little, will stand 
160 



HORSE OUTFITS 

all sorts of hard usage, hold the pack rope 
well, are so stiff that they well protect the 
contents, and are so hard that miscellaneous 
sharp-cornered utensils may be packed in 
them without fear of injury either to them 
or the animal. They are made by lacing 
wet hides, hair out, neatly and squarely over 
one of the wooden boxes built to pack two 
five gallon oil cans. A round hardwood 
stick is sewn along the top on one side — to 
this the sling straps are to be attached. 
After the hide has dried hard, the wooden 
box is removed. 

Only one possible objection can be urged 
against rawhide kyacks; if you are travel- 
ing much by railroad, they are exceedingly 
awkward to ship. For that purpose they 
are better made of canvas. 

Many canvas kyacks are on the market, Canvas 
and most of them are worthless. It is aston- 
ishing how many knocks they are called on 
to receive and how soon the abrasion of 
rocks and trees will begin to wear them 
through. Avoid those made of light ma- 
161 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

terial. Avoid also those made in imitation 
of the rawhide with a stick along the top of 
one side to take the sling straps. In no 
time the ends of that stick will punch 
through. The hest sort are constructed of 
OO canvas. The top is made of a half -inch 
rope sewn firmly to the hem all around. 
The sling straps are long, and riveted firmly. 
The ends are reinforced with leather. Such 
kyacks will give you good service and last 
you a long time. When you wish to express 
them, you pack your saddle and saddle 
blankets in one, telescope the other over it, 
and tie up the bundle with the lash rope. 
Lash Ropes The lash rope is important, for you will 
have to handle it much, and a three months' 
trip with a poor one would lose you your 
immortal soul. Most articles on the sub- 
ject advise thirty-three feet. That is long 
enough for the diamond hitch and for other 
hitches with a very small top pack, but it 
will not do for many valuable hitches on a 
bulky pack. Forty feet is nearer the ticket. 
The best is a manila half inch or five-eighth 
163 



HORSE OUTFITS 

inch. If you boil it before starting out, you 
will find it soft to handle. The boiling does 
not impair its strength. Parenthetically: do 
not become over-enthusiastic and boil your 
riata, or you will make it aggravatingly 
kinky. Cotton rope is all right, but apt to be 
stiff. I once used a linen rope; it proved to 
be soft, strong, and held well, but I have 
never been able to find another. 

The cinch hook sold with the outfit is sawn Cinch Hoc 
into shape and strengthened with a bolt. If 
you will go out into the nearest oak grove, 
however, you can cut yourself a natural 
hook which will last longer and hold much 
better. The illustration shows the method 
of attaching such a hook. 

So you have your horses ready for their F 
burdens. Picket ropes should be of half-inch 
rope and about 50 feet long. The bell for 
the bell horse should be a loud one, with dis- 
tinctive note not easily blended with natural 
sounds, and attached to a broad strap with 
safety buckle. 

Hobbles are of two patterns. Both con- 
1C3 



Hobbles 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

sist of heavy leather straps to buckle around 
either front leg and connected by two links 
and a swivel. In one the strap passes first 
through the ring to which the links are 




Natural Cinch Hook of Oak. 

attached, and then to the buckle. The other 
buckles first, and then the end is carried 
through the ring. You will find the first 
mentioned a decided nuisance, especially on 
a wet or frosty morning, for the leather 
tends to atrophy in a certain position from 
which numbed fingers have more than a lit- 
164 



HORSE OUTFITS 

tie difficulty in dislodging it. The latter, 
however, are comparatively easy to undo. 

Hobbles should be lined. I have experi- 
mented with various materials, including 
the much lauded sheepskin with the wool on. 
The latter when wet chafes as much as raw 
leather, and when frozen is about as valu- 
able as a wood rasp. The best lining is a 



A — Wash Leather. C — Steel Ring. 

B — Heavy Leather. D — Buckle. 

E — Swivel. 

Hobbles — Wrong (Upper) and Right Sort. 

piece of soft wash leather at least two inches 
wider than the hobble straps. 

With most horses it is sufficient to strap How to 

Attach 
a pair of these around the forelegs and Hobbles 

above the fetlocks. A gentle animal can be 

trusted with them fastened below. 

But many horses by dint of practice or 

plain native cussedness can hop along with 

hobbles nearly as fast as they could foot- 

165 



Side Lines 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

free, and a lot too fast for you to catch them 
single handed. Such an animal is an un- 
mitigated bother. Of course if there is good 
staking you can picket him out; but quite 
likely he is unused to the picket rope, or the 
feed is scant. 

In that case it may be that side lines — 
which are simply hobbles by which a hind 
foot and a fore foot are shackled — may 
work. I have had pretty good success by 
fastening a short heavy chain to one fore leg. 
As long as the animal fed quietly, he was all 
right, but an attempt at galloping or trot- 
ting swung the chain sufficiently to rap him 
sharply across the shins. 

Very good hobbles can be made from a 
single strand unraveled from a large rope, 
doubled once to make a loop for one leg, 
twisted strongly, the two ends brought 
around the other leg and then thrust through 
the fibers. This is the sort used generally 
by cowboys. They are soft and easily car- 
ried, but soon wear out. 



166 



HORSE PACKS 



CHAPTER X 

HORSE PACKS 

ALMOST any one can put together a 
comparatively well made back pack, 
and very slight practice will enable a 
beginner to load a canoe. But the packing Generalities 
of a horse or mule is another matter. The 
burden must be properly weighted, properly 
balanced, properly adjusted, and properly 
tied on. That means practice and consid- 
erable knowledge. 

To the average wilderness traveler the 
possession of a pack saddle and canvas 
kyacks simplifies the problem considerably. 
If you were to engage in packing as a busi- 
ness, wherein probably you would be called 
on to handle packages of all shapes and 
sizes, however, you would be compelled to 
discard your kyacks in favor of a sling made 
of rope. And again it might very well hap- 
169 



Pack 
Models 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

pen that some time or another you might be 
called on to transport your plunder without 
appliances on an animal caught up from the 
pasture. For this reason you must further 
know how to hitch a pack securely to a naked 
horse. 

In this brief resume of possibilities you 
can see it is necessary that you know at least 
three methods of throwing a lash rope — a 
hitch to hold your top pack and kyacks, a 
sling to support your boxes on the aparejos, 
and a hitch for the naked horse. But in 
addition it will be desirable to understand 
other hitches adapted to different exigencies 
of bulky top packs, knobby kyacks and the 
like. One hitch might hold these all well 
enough, but the especial hitch is better. 

The detailment of processes by diagram 
must necessarily be rather dull reading. It 
can be made interesting by an attempt to 
follow out in actual practice the hitches de- 
scribed. For this purpose you do not need 
a full-size outfit. A pair of towels folded 
compactly, tied together, and thrown one 
170 



HORSE PACKS 

each side over a bit of stove wood to repre- 
sent the horse makes a good pack, while a 
string with a bent nail for cinch hook will 
do as lash rope. With these you can follow 
out each detail. 

First of all you must be very careful to saddling 
get your saddle blankets on smooth and l 
without wrinkles. Hoist the saddle into 
place, then lift it slightly and loosen the 
blanket along the length of the backbone, 
so that the weight of the pack will not bind 
the blanket tight across the horse's back. In 
cinching up, be sure you know your animal ; 
some puff themselves out so that in five min- 
utes the cinch will hang loose. Fasten your 
latigo or cinch straps to the lower ring. 
Thus you can get at it even when the pack 
is in place. 

Distribute the weight carefully between p ac king 
the kyacks. "Heft" them again and again. ' 
The least preponderance on one side will 
cause a saddle to sag in that direction; that 
in turn will bring pressure to bear on the 
opposite side of the withers, and that will 
171 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

surely chafe to a sore. Then you are in 
trouble. 

When you are quite sure the kyacks 
weigh alike, get your companion to hang 
one on the pack saddle, at the same time you 
hook the straps of the other. If you try to 
do it by yourself you must leave one hang- 
ing while you pick up the other, thus run- 
ning a good risk of twisting the saddle. 

Top Packs Your top pack you will build as the occa- 
sion demands. In general, try to make it as 
low as possible and to get your blankets on 
top where the pack rope "bites." The strap 
connecting the kyacks is then buckled. Over 
all you will throw the canvas tarpaulin that 
you use to sleep on. Tuck it in back and 
front to exclude dust. It is now ready for 
the pack rope. 

Tam Hitch *• ^ w ^ am Hitch. — All hitches possess 
one thing in common — the rope passes 
around the horse and through the cinch 
hook. The first pull is to tighten that cinch. 
Afterward other maneuvers are attempted. 
Now ordinarily the packer pulls tight his 
172 



HORSE PACKS 

cinch, and then in the further throwing of 
the hitch he depends on holding his slack. It 
is a very difficult thing to do. With the jam 
hitch, however, the necessity is obviated. 




The Jam Hitch. 

The beauty of it is that the rope renders 
freely one way — the way you are pulling — 
but will not give a hair the other — the direc- 
tion of loosening. So you may heave up 
the cinch as tightly as you please, then drop 
173 



Jam Hitch 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the rope and go on about your packing per- 
fectly sure that nothing is going to slip back 
on you. 

The rope passes once around the shank 
of the hook, and then through the jaw (see 
diagram). Be sure to get it around the 
shank and not the curve. Simplicity itself; 
and yet I have seen very few packers who 
know of it. 

2. The Diamond Hitch. — I suppose the 
Diamond diamond in one form or another is more 
used than any other. Its merit is its adap- 
tability to different shapes and sizes of 
package — in fact it is the only hitch good 
for aparejo packing — its great flattening 
power, and the fact that it rivets the pack 
to the horse's sides. If you are to learn but 
one hitch, this will be the best for you, al- 
though certain others, as I shall explain 
under their proper captions, are better 
adapted to certain circumstances. 

The diamond hitch is also much discussed. 
I have heard more arguments over it than 
over the Japanese war or original sin. 
174 



HORSE PACKS 



"That thing a diamond hitch!" shrieks a 
son of the foothills to a son of the alkali. 
"Go to! Looks more like a game of cat's 
cradle. Now this is the real way to throw 
a diamond." 

Certain pacifically inclined individuals 
have attempted to quell the trouble by a 
differentiation of nomenclature. Thus one 
can throw a number of diamond hitches, 
provided one is catholically minded — such 
as the "Colorado diamond," the "Arizona 
diamond," and others. The attempt at peace 
has failed. 

"Oh, yes," says the son of the alkali as 
he watches the attempts of the son of the 
foothills. "That's the Colorado diamond," 
as one would say that is a paste jewel. 

The joke of it is that the results are about 
the same. Most of the variation consists in 
the manner of throwing. It is as though 
the discussion were whether the trigger 
should be pulled with the fore, middle, or 
both fingers. After all, the bullet would 
go anyway. 

175 



Colorado 

Versus 

Arizona 



Diamond 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

I describe here the single diamond, as 
thrown in the Sierra Nevadas, and the dou- 
ble diamond as used by government freight 
packers in many parts of the Rockies. The 
former is a handy one-man hitch. The lat- 
ter can be used by one man, but is easier 
with two. 
The Single Throw the pack cinch (a) over the top 
of the pack, retaining the loose end of the 
rope. If your horse is bad, reach under him 
with a stick to draw the cinch within reach 
of your hand until you hold it and the loose 
end both on the same side of the animal. 
Hook it through the hook (a, Fig. II) and 
bring up along the pack. Thrust the bight 
(a. Fig. Ill) of the loose rope under the 
rope (b) ; the back over and again under to 
form a loop. The points (c-c) at which the 
loose rope goes around the pack rope can be 
made wide apart or close together, according 
to the size of the diamond required (Fig. V) . 
With a soft top-pack requiring flattening, 
the diamond should be large ; with heavy side 
pack, smaller. 

176 



r 






1 SW ,;^ 

% V 










THE SINGLE DIAMOND. 



The Single 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Now go around to the other side of the 
animal. Pass the loose end (d, Fig". Ill) 
back, under the alforjas, forward and 
through the loop from below as shown by 
the arrows of direction in Fig. IV. 

You are now ready to begin tightening. 
First pull your cinch tight by means of 
what was the loose end (b) in Fig. II. 
Place one foot against the animal and heave, 
good and plenty. Take up the slack by 
running over both ends of the loop (c-c, 
Fig. III). When you have done this, go 
around the other side. There take up the 
slack on b-b, Fig. IV. With all there is in 
you pull the loose end (c, Fig. IV) in the 
direction of the horse's body, toward his 
head. Brace your foot against the kyacks. 
It will sag the whole hitch toward the front 
of the pack, but don't mind that : the defect 
will be remedied in a moment. 

Next, still holding the slack (Fig. V), 

carry the loose end around the bottom of the 

alforjas and under the original main pack 

rope (c) . Now pull again along the direc- 

178 



HORSE PACKS 

tion of the horse's body, but this time toward 
his tail. The strain will bend the pack rope 
(c), heretofore straight across, back to form 
the diamond. It will likewise drag back to 
its original position amidships in the pack 
the entire hitch, which, you will remember, 
was drawn too far forward by your previous 
pull toward the horse's head. Thus the last 
pull tightens the entire pack, clamps it 
down, secures it immovably, which is the 
main recommendation and beautiful fea- 
ture of the diamond hitch. 

The double diamond is a much more corn- 
Diamond 

plicated affair. Begin by throwing the 
cinch under, not over the horse. Let it lie 
there. Lay the end of the rope (a) length- 
wise of the horse across one side the top of 
the pack ( Fig. 1 ) . Experience will teach 
you just how big to leave loop (b) . Throw 
loop (b) over top of pack (Fig. 2). Re- 
verse loop a (Fig. 2) by turning it from 
left to right (Fig. 3). Pass loop (a) 
around front and back of kyack, and end 
of rope d ever rope c, and under rope d. 
179 




THE DOUBLE DIAMOND. 




THE DOUBLE DIAMOND. 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

Pass around the horse and hook the cinch 
hook in loop (c). 

This forms another loop {a, Fig. 4), 
which must be extended to the proper size 
and passed around the kyack on the other 
side ( Fig. 5 ) . Now tighten the cinch, pull 
up the slack, giving strong heaves where 
the hitch pulls forward or back along the 
left of the horse, ending with a last tight- 
ener at the end (&, Fig. 5). The end is 
then carried back under the kyack and fast- 
ened. 

3. The Square Hitch is easily and quickly 
thrown, and is a very good fair-weather lash. 
In conjunction with half hitches, as later 
explained, it makes a good hitch for a buck- 
ing horse. For a very bulky pack it is ex- 
cellent in that it binds in so many places. 
It is thrown as follows: 

Throw the cinch hook over the pack, and 
cinch tight with the jam hitch before de- 
scribed. Lead the end across the horse, 
around the back of kyack on the other side, 
underneath it, and up over at a. The end 
1S.3 



HORSE PACKS 

here passes beneath at b. You will find Hit e ch 
that you can, when you cinch up at first, 




The Square Hitch. 



throw a loose loop over the pack comprising 
the bight bed, so as to leave your loose 

183 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

end at d. Then place the loop bed around 
the kyack. A moment's study of the dia- 
gram will show you what I mean, and will 
also convince you that much is gained by 
not having to pass rope (a) underneath 
at b. Now pull hard on loose end at d, 
taking care to exert your power lengthwise 
of the horse. Pass the line under the alforjas 
toward the rear, up over the pack and under 
the original rope at c. Pull on the loose 
end, this time exerting the power toward the 
rear. You cannot put too much strength 
into the three tightening pulls : ( 1 ) in cinch- 
ing through the cinch hook; (2) the pull 
forward; (3) the pull back. On them de- 
pends the stability of your pack. Double 
back the loose end and fasten it. This is a 
very quick hitch. 

4. The Bucking Hitch is good to tie 
things down on a bad horse, but it is other- 
wise useless to take so much trouble. 

Pass the pack rope around the kyacks on 
one side, and over itself. This forms a half 
hitch, below which hangs the cinch. Lead 
184 



HORSE PACKS 

the pack rope over the top of the pack, 
around the other kyack, and through to form 
another half hitch. Cinch up, and throw 




The Bucking Hitch. 

either the single diamond or the square hitch. 
The combination will clamp the kyacks as 
firmly as an3>thing can. 

5. The Miner's Hitch. — This hitch is very The 

. . Miner's 

much on the same principle, but is valuable Hitch 
when you happen to be provided with only 
a short rope, or a cinch with two rings, in- 
stead of a ring and a hook. 

Take your rope — with the cinch unat- 
tached — by the middle and throw it across 
185 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

the pack. Make a half hitch over either 
kyack. These half hitches, instead of run- 
ning around the sides of the kyacks, as in 




The Miner s Hitch. 
186 



HORSE PACKS 

the last hitch, should run around the top, 
bottom, and ends (see diagram). Thrust 
bight (b) through cinch ring, and end (a) 
through the bight. Do the same thing on 
the other side. Make fast end a at c, and 
end d at e, cinching up strongly on the 
bights that come through the cinch rings. 

6. The Lone Packer or Basco Hitch. — The Lone 
This is a valuable hitch when the kyacks are ] 

J Hitch 

heavy or knobby, because the last pull lifts 
them away from the horse's sides. It re- 
quires at least forty feet of rope. I use it 
a great deal. 

Cinch up with the jam hitch as usual. 
Throw the end of the rope across the horse, 
under the forward end of the kyack on the 
far side, beneath it and up over the rear end 
of the kyack. The rope in all other hitches 
binds against the bottom of the kyacks ; but 
in this it should pass between the kyack and 
the horse's side ( Fig. 1 ) . Now bring a 
bight in loose end (a) forward over rope 
(c), and thrust it through under rope (c) 
from front to back (Fig. 2). Be sure to 
187 




THE LONE PACKER HITCH. 



HORSE PACKS 



get this right. Hold bight (b) with left 
hand where it is, and with the other slide 
end (a) down along rope (c) until beneath 




The Lone Packer Hitch. 



the kyacks (Fig. 3). Seize rope at d 
and pull hard directly back; then pull 
cinchwise on a. The first pull tightens the 

189 



The Lone 

Packer 

Hitch 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

pack; the second lifts the kyacks. Carry 

end (a) across the pack and repeat on the 

other side. Fasten finally anywhere on top. 

Fig. 4 shows one side completed, with rope 

thrown across ready for the other side. 

Fig. 5 is a view from above of the 

hitch, completed except for the fastening 

of end (a). 

In case you have egg's or glassware to 

pack, spread your tarp on the horse twice 

as long as usual. Cinch up with the jam 

hitch, lay your eggs, etc., atop the rope; fold 

back the canvas to cover the whole, and then 

throw the lone packer, placing one rope 

each side the package (Figs. 6 and 7). 

7. The Squaw Hitch. — Often it may 
The Squaw * J 

happen that you find yourself possessed of 
a rope and a horse, but nothing else. It is 
quite possible to pack your equipment with 
only these simple auxiliaries. 

Lay your tarp on the ground fully spread. 
On half of it pack your effects, striving al- 
ways to keep them as flat and smooth as 
possible. Fold the other half of the canvas 
190 



HORSE PACKS 

to cover the pack. Lay this thick mattress- 
like affair across the horse's bare back, and 
proceed to throw the squaw hitch as follows : 

Throw a double bight across the top of The s w 

Hitch 




Tig. 3. 

The Squaw Hitch. 

the pack (Fig. 1). Pass end a under the 
horse and through loop c; and end b under 
the horse and through loop (d). Take both 
a and b directly back under the horse again, 
in the opposite direction, of course, and pass 
191 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

both through loop (c) . Now cinch up on 
the two ends and fasten. 
SKng 8. Sling No. 1. — When you possess no 
kyacks, but have some sort of pack saddle, 
it is necessary to improvise a sling. 

Fasten the middle of your rope by means 
of two half hitches to the front of the pack 




Sling No. 1. 

saddle (Fig. 1). Throw the ends (b, b) 
crossed as shown in Fig. 2. Place the box 
or sack in bight (a), passing the rope around 
the outside and the ends, as in Fig. 3. The 
end of the sack should be just even with the 
front of the pack saddle. If you bring it 
too far forward the front of the sling will 
sag. Pass the end (b) underneath the sack 
or burden, across its middle, and over the top 
192 



HORSE PACKS 

of the saddle. When the other side is sim- 
ilarly laden, the ends {b,b) may be tied to- 
gether at the top ; or if they are long enough, 
may be fastened at c (Fig. 4). 

9. Sling No. 2. — Another sling is some- 
times handy for long bundles, and is made as 
follows : 




Sling No. 2. 

Fasten the rope by the middle as ex- 
plained in the last. Fasten ends {b,b) to 
the rear horn or to each other (see dia- 
gram) . Leave the bights of the rope (a, a) 
of sufficient length so they can be looped 
around the burden and over the horns. This 
193 



Sling 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

sling is useful only on a regular pack saddle, 
while the other really does not need the rear 
pommel at all, as the ropes can be crossed 
without it. 
The Saddle 10. The Saddle Hitch. — There remains 
now the possibility, or let us hope proba- 
bility, that you may some day wish to pack a 
deer on your riding saddle, or perhaps bring 
in a sack of grain or some such matter. 

Throw the rope across the seat of the 
saddle, leaving long ends on both sides. 
Lay your deer aboard, crosswise. Thrust 
a bight (a) of one end through your cinch 
ring, and pass the loop thus formed around 
the deer's neck ( Fig. 1 ) . Repeat on the 
other side, bringing the loop there about his 
haunch. Cinch up the two ends of the rope, 
and tie them on top. 

The great point in throwing any hitch is 
to keep the rope taut. To do this, pay no 
attention to your free end, but clamp down 
firmly the fast end with your left hand 
until the right has made the next turn. 
Remember this; it is important. The least 
194 



HORSE PACKS 

slip back of the slack you have gained is Hitch* 
going to loosen that pack by ever so little; 




The Saddle Hitch. 



and then you can rely on the swing and 
knocks of the day's journey to do the rest. 
The horse rubs under a limb or against a 

195 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



How to 
Pack 



big rock; the loosened rope scrapes off the 

Fragile Stuff top of the pack ; something flops or rattles 

or falls — immediately that cayuse arches his 

back, lowers his head, and begins to buck. 





Illustrating How to Pack Eggs or Glassware. 

It is marvelous to what height the bowed 
back will send small articles catapult-wise 
into the air. First go the tarpaulin and 
blankets; then the duffle bags; then one by 
one the contents of the alforjas; finally, 
after they have been sufficiently lightened, 
the alforjas themselves in an abandoned 
196 




THE RESULT OF NOT GETTING THE 
HITCH ON SNUG. 



The Tie 
Hitch 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

parabola of debauched delight. In the 
meantime that horse, and all the others, has 
been running frantically all over the rough 
mountains, through the rocks, ravines, brush 
and forest trees. You have ridden reck- 
lessly trying to round them up, sweating, 
swearing, praying to the Red Gods that 
none of those indispensable animals is going 
to get lame in this insane hippodrome. 
Finally between you, you have succeeded 
in collecting and tying to trees all the cul- 
prits. Then you have to trail inch by inch 
along the track of the cyclone, picking up 
from where they have fallen, rolled, or been 
trampled, the contents of that pack down to 
the smallest. It will take you the rest of 
the day; and then you'll miss some. Oh, it 
pays to get your hitch on snug ! 

11. The Tie Hitch. — The hitches de- 
scribed are all I have ever had occasion to 
use, and will probably carry you through 
any emergencies that may be likely to arise. 
But perhaps many times during the day you 
are likely to want to stop the train for the 
198 



HORSE PACKS 

purpose of some adjustments. Therefore 
you will attach your lead ropes in a manner 
easily to be thrown loose. Thrust the bight 
(a) of the lead rope beneath any part of 



The Tie 
Hitch 




The Tie Hitch. 

the pack rope (&, b) . Double back the 
bight (d) of the loose end (c) through the 
loop (a) thus formed. Tighten the knot 
by pulling tight on loop d. A sharp pull 
on c will free the entire lead rope. 



199 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 



A c 



CHAPTER XI 

HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

GOOD riding mule, when you can get Mules 

him, and provided you intend to use 
"" him only for trail travel in the moun- 
tains, is about the best proposition. A mule 
is more sure-footed than a horse, and can sub- 
sist where a horse would starve. On the 
other hand he is not much good off a walk; 
never acquires the horse's interest in getting 
around stubborn stock, and is apt to be 
mean. None of these objections, however 
much they may influence your decision as 
to saddle animals, will have any weight 
against a pack beast. For the latter pur- 
pose the mule is unexcelled. But probably 
in the long run you will prefer to ride a 
horse. 

Burros are an aggravation; and yet in Bun-os 
some circumstances they are hard to beat. 
203 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



They are unbelievably slow, and unbeliev- 
ably stubborn. When they get tired — or 
think they do — they stop, and urging mere- 
ly confirms their decision to rest. You can- 
not hurry them. They hate water, and it is 
sometimes next to impossible to force them 
into a deep or swift stream. They are 
camp thieves, and will eat anything left 
within their reach. Still, they can live on 
sage-bush, go incredible periods without 
drinking, make their way through country 
impassible to any other hoofed animals ex- 
cepting goats and sheep. Certain kinds of 
desert travel is impossible without them, and 
some sorts of high rough mountaineering 
is practicable only with their aid. At times 
you will be driven to the use of them. In 
such an emergency gird your soul with 
patience, and try to buy big ones. 
Pack Mules Pack mules are almost impossible to get, 
and are generally very high priced. A good 
pack mule does not mean any old mule that 
comes along. The animal should be rather 
small, chunkily built, gentle as to the heels 
204 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

and teeth, accustomed to carrying and tak- 
ing care of a pack, trained to follow the 
saddle horses, and not inclined to stray from 
camp. Such perfection costs anywhere 
from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty 
dollars. It is worth the price to one who 
does much packing; but as perfectly ade- 
quate pack horses can be had for from 
twenty to forty dollars, and are easy to find, 
you will in all likelihood choose them. 

Now I know perfectly well that I can ' 

a Horse 

tell you nothing about choosing a horse. If 
you are a New Englander you will know 
all about the trade ; if you are a New Yorker, 
you could give me points on every horse in 
the ring ; if you are Middle West, you prob- 
ably have read or worked or traded or raised 
more horses than I will ever ride. But in 
selecting a mountain horse, his mere points 
as a physical specimen are often little in his 
favor, while glaring defects may concern his 
usefulness hardly at all. 

Never mind at first how the horse offered 
for your inspection looks. Examine him for 
205 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

blemishes later. You must first discover if 
he is sure-footed and courageous. An east- 
ern horse would not last five minutes on a 
Western western trail. A western horse, no matter 
how accustomed to mountain work, is worse 
than useless if subject to ordinary horse- 
panics at suddenly rustling leaves, unex- 
pected black stubs, and the like. He must 
attend to his footing, keep his eyes for the 
trail, and be wise. Next you must inquire 
if this steadiness carries over into other 
things. He must stand when left without 
hitching, and must be easy to catch. Often 
you will have to dismount for the purpose 
of clearing trail, helping the pack train, 
tightening ropes, or reconnoitering. At 
such junctures iron hitching posts are not 
always at hand. Nothing is more aggravat- 
ing than the necessity of searching every- 
where for a place to tie, or worse, to be 
forced to chase down and coax quiet a horse 
that has promptly decamped when left for 
a moment to himself. Nor does it add to 
your joy to get up at four for the purpose 
206 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

of making an early start, only to spend the 
extra hour filched from sleep in an attempt 
to catch some snorting fool horse. 

The picture I have sketched looks to you 
somewhat like what is known as an "old 
cow," doesn't it? But in reality good horses 
of the quality named are not difficult to find. 
Equine intelligence is of a higher grade 
West than East, mainly because a western 
horse is all his life thrown on his own re- 
sources. It is perfectly possible to find a 
horse both handsome and spirited, which will 
nevertheless permit himself to be directly 
approached in pasture, and will stand until 
further orders on the trail. 

But the point is that it is much better, ^ « id 
oh, infinitely! to get an "old cow" than a Cow" of a 

Horse 

horse without these qualities. The "old 
cow" will carry you, and will be there when 
wanted. That is the main thing in the 
mountains. While as for the other horse, 
no matter how well bred he is, how spirited, 
how well gaited, how handsome, how ap- 
pealing in every way to a horseman's eye — 
207 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

he will be worse than no horse if you have 
to keep your hands on him, if he must be 
picketed at night, if he is likely to shy on a 
bad trail, if he may refuse to tackle a rough 
place or to swim a river. 

Of course it is nice to ride a good-looking 

Horse Not . - . . 

Necessary horse; but in the mountains most emphatic- 
ally "handsome is what handsome does." 
The horses I now own are fine animals and 
fine mountain ponies; but some of the best 
I have ever ridden, a horseman would not 
look at twice. On a time, being under the 
absolute necessity of getting a pack quickly, 
I purchased a bay that I promptly named 
Methuselah. He was some sixteen years 
old, badly stove forward by hard riding, and 
not much of a horse anyway. For three 
months he carried a pack. Then one day I 
threw a saddle on him to go a short distance 
on some little errand. Methuselah, over- 
joyed, did his best. The old horse was one 
of the best mountain saddlers in the outfit. 
He climbed surely and well ; he used his head 
in negotiating bad places; would stay where 
208 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

he was put. The fact that he was not sound 
was utterly unimportant, for not once in a 
week was he required to go faster than a 
walk. 

On the other hand I once owned a Bill- 
horse, mountain-bred and raised. He was 
a beautiful beast, proud, high-stepping — 
one you would be glad to be seen on. He 
would have been worth considerable money, 
and would have afforded much solid satis- 
faction if I had wanted him for cow work, 
or pleasure riding in the lower country. 
But it was absolutely impossible to catch 
him, even hobbled, without a corral. One 
day I saw him leap from a stand and with 
hobbles over a fence and feed trough. So 
I traded him for another, not near so much 
of a horse, as a horse, but worth two dozen 
Bill-horses. 

One other thing you must notice, and Gun 
that is whether or not the beast is gun shy. 
A great many stampede wildly at the report 
of firearms. I once owned a pack horse 
named Sam Eat, on which for some time 
209 



"Sam Fat" 
Did 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

I congratulated myself. He was a heavy 
animal, and could carry a tremendous load; 
and yet he was sure-footed and handled him- 
self well on rough country. He was gentle 
and friendly. He took excellent care of his 
pack, and he followed perfectly. No one 
needed to ride behind him to keep Sam Fat 
coming. I used to turn him loose when I 
started, and pay no more attention to him 
until I stopped. No matter how rich the 
feed through which we passed, Sam Fat was 
always on hand when the halt was called. 
And, very important point, he was a good 
rustler — he kept fat and sleek on poor food 
where other horses gaunted. Altogether 
Sam Fat was a find. Then one day one of 
the party shot off a harmless little twenty- 
two caliber popgun. Sam Fat went crazy. 
He squatted flat, uttered a terrified squeal, 
and departed through the woods, banging 
his pack against trees and hanging limbs. 
We chased him a mile, and finally brought 
him back, but all the rest of the day he was 
panicky. I tried to get him accustomed to 
210 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

shooting by tying him near our target prac- 
tice, but it was no use. Finally, though 
reluctantly, I sold him. 

So when the natives bring in their horses 
for your selection blind your eyes to the 
question of looks and points until you have 
divided the offering into two parts — those 
that are sure-footed, courageous, gentle, 
tractable, easy to catch, good grub rustlers, 
and if pack horses, those that will follow and 
will take care of their packs, and those that 
lack one or more of these qualifications. 
Discard the second group. Then if the first 
group contains nothing but blemished or 
homely horses, make the best of it, per- 
fectly sure that the others might as well not 
exist. 

In general, a horse just from pasture 
should have a big belly. A small-bellied 
horse will prove to be a poor feeder, and 
will probably weaken down on a long hike. 
The best horse stands from fourteen hands 
to fourteen two, and is chunkily built. There 
are exceptions, both ways, to this rule. A 
211 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

pack horse is better with low withers on 
account of the possibility of sore backs. 
Avoid a horse whose ears hang sidewise 
from his head; he is apt to be stubborn. 
As for the rest, horse sense is the same 
everywhere. 

A pack horse can carry two hundred 

Horse 

pounds — not more. Of course more can be 
piled on him, and he will stand up under it, 
but on a long trip he will deteriorate. 
Greater weights are carried only in text 
books, in camp-fire lies, and where a regular 
pack route permits of grain feeding. A 
good animal, with care, will take two hun- 
dred successfully enough, but I personally 
always pack much lighter. Feed costs noth- 
ing, so it is every bit as cheap to take three 
horses as two. The only expense is the 
slight bother of packing an extra animal. 
In return you can travel farther and more 
steadily, the chances of sore backs are mini- 
mized, your animals keep fat and strong, and 
in case one meets with an accident, you can 
still save all your effects on the other. For 
212 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

the last three years I have made it a prac- Sore Backs 
tice to pack only about a hundred to a 
hundred and twenty-five pounds when off 
for a very long trip. My animals have al- 
ways come out fat and hearty, sometimes in 
marked contrast to those of my companions, 
and I have not had a single case of sore back. 

The latter are best treated by Bickmore's 
Gall Cure. Its use does not interfere in the 
least with packing; and I have never seen a 
case it did not cure inside ten days or two 
weeks if applied at the beginning of the 
trouble. 

In the mountains and on grass-feed How Far 

a Horse 

twenty miles a day is big travel. If you should 
push more than that you are living beyond 
your income. It is much better, if you are 
moving every day, to confine yourself to 
jaunts of from twelve to fifteen miles on an 
average. Then if necessity arises, you have 
something to fall back on, and are able to 
make a forced march. 

The distance may seem very short to you Mountain 

, , . . . Travel 

it you have never traveled m the mountains ; 

213 



Desert 
Travel 



Time to 
Travel 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

but as a matter of fact you will probably 
find it quite sufficient, both in length of time 
and in variety of scenery. To cover it you 
will travel steadily for from six to eight 
hours; and in the diversity of country will 
be interested every step of the way. In- 
deed so varied will be the details that it will 
probably be difficult to believe you have made 
so small a mileage, until you stop to reflect 
that, climbing and resting, no horse can go 
faster than two or two and one-half miles 
an hour. 

On the desert or the plains the length of 
your journey must depend entirely on the 
sort of feed you can get. Thirty miles a 
day for a long period is all a fed-horse can 
do, while twenty is plenty enough for an 
animal depending on his own foraging. 
Longer rides are not to be considered in the 
course of regular travel. I once did one 
hundred and eighty miles in two days — and 
then took a rest. 

In the mountains you must keep in mind 
that a horse must both eat and rest; and 
214 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

that he will not graze when frost is on the 
meadows. Many otherwise skillful moun- 
taineers ride until nearly dark, and are up 
and off soon after daylight. They wonder 
why their horses lose flesh and strength. 
The truth is the poor beasts must compress 
their twenty-four hours of sustenance into 
the short noon stop, and the shorter evening 
before the frost falls. It is often much 
wiser to get a very early start, to travel until 
the middle of the afternoon, and then to go 
into camp. Whatever inconvenience and 
discomfort you may suffer is more than 
made up for by the opportunities to hunt, 
fish, or cook afforded by the early stop ; and 
the time you imagine you lose is regained 
in the long run by the regularity of your 
days' journeys. 

On the desert or the plains where it is hot, 
to the contrary, you will have better luck by 
traveling early and late. Desert journey- 
ing is uncomfortable anyway, but has its 
compensations. We ordinarily get under 
way by three in the morning; keep going 
215 



Desert 
Journeying 



Climbing 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

until nine ; start about six again — after sup- 
per — and travel until nine of the evening. 
Thus we take advantage of whatever cool- 
ness is possible, and see the rising and the 
falling of the day, which is the most wonder- 
ful and beautiful of the desert's gifts. 

Going up steep hills in high altitudes you 
must breathe your horse every fifty feet or 
so. It need not be a long rest. Merely rein 
him in for eight or ten seconds. Do the 
same thing always before entering the nego- 
tiation of a bad place in the trail. Do this, 
no matter how fresh and eager your animal 
may seem. Often it spells the difference 
between a stumble and a good clean climb. 
An experienced pack horse will take these 
rests on his own initiative, stopping and also 
starting again with the regularity of clock- 
work. 

* It does not hurt a horse to sweat, but if 
ever he begins to drip heavily, and to tremble 
in the legs, it is getting time to hunt the 
shade for a rest. I realize that such minor 
points as these may be perfectly well known 
216 



HORSES, MULES, BURROS 

to every one likely to read this book, and yet 
I have seen so many cases of ignorance of 
them on the trail that I risk their inclusion 
here. 

Every hour or so loosen the cinches of 
your saddle horse and raise the saddle and 
blankets an inch or so to permit a current 
of air to pass through. Steaming makes 
the back tender. When you unsaddle him 
or the pack animals, if they are very hot, 
leave the blankets across them for a few 
moments. A hot sun shining on a sweaty 
back causes small pimples, which may de- 
velop into sores. It is better to bathe with 
cold water the backs of green horses; but 
such a trouble is not necessary after they 
are hardened. 

Two more things I will mention, though a ° Ho *g e , s F 
strictly speaking, they do not fall in the F ee * 
province of equipment. When you pick up 
a horse's hind foot, face to the rear, put the 
hand nearest the horse firmly against his 
flank, and use the other to raise the hoof. 
Then if he tries to kick, you can hold him 
217 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

off sufficiently to get out of the way. In- 
deed the very force of his movement toward 
you will thrust against the hand on his flank 
and tend to throw you to one side. 

If you are called upon to mount a bad 
Horse horse, seize the check piece of his bridle in 

your left hand and twist his head sharply 
toward you. At the same time grasp the 
pommel in your right hand, thrust your foot 
in the stirrup and swing aboard. Never 
get on any western horse as an easterner 
mounts — left hand on pommel and right 
hand on cantle. If a horse plunges for- 
ward to buck while you are in this position, 
you will inevitably land back of the saddle. 
Then he has a fine leverage to throw you 
about forty feet. A bad pack horse you 
can handle by blindfolding. Anchor things 
for a storm, take off the bandage, and stand 
one side. 



218 



CANOES 



CHAPTER XII 

CANOES 

I SUPPOSE I have paddled about every 
sort of craft in use, and have found 
good qualities in all. Now that I am 
called upon to pick out one of them and label 
it as the best, even for a specific purpose, I 
must confess myself puzzled as to a choice. 
Perhaps the best way would be to describe 
the different sorts of canoe in common use, 
detail their advantages, tell what I consider 
the best of each kind, and leave the choice to 
your own taste or the circumstances in which 
you may find yourself. 

Practicable canoes are made of birch bark Kinds f 
stretched over light frames; of cedar; of Canoes 
basswood; of canvas, and of canvas cover 
over stiff frames. 

The birch bark canoe has several unassail- _. _. . 

The Birch 

able advantages. It is light; it carries a Bark 
greater weight in proportion to its length 
221 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

than any other; it is very easily mended. 
On the other hand it is not nearly so fast as 
a wooden canoe of sweeter lines; does not 
bear transportation so well; is more easily 
punctured; and does not handle so readily 
in a heavy wind. These advantages and 

Advantages ^ CT 

and Disad- disadvantages, as you can see, balance 
against one another. If it tends to veer in 
a heavy wind more than the wooden canoe, it 
is lighter on portage. If more fragile, it is 
very easily mended. If it is not quite so 
fast, it carries more duffle. Altogether, it is 
a very satisfactory all-around craft in which 
I have paddled many hundreds of miles, and 
with which I have never been seriously dis- 
satisfied. If I were to repeat some long ex- 
plorations in the absolute wilds of Canada 
I should choose a birch canoe, if only for the 
reason that no matter how badly I might 
smash it, the materials are always at hand 
for repairs. A strip of bark from the near- 
est birch tree; a wad of gum from the next 
spruce; some spruce roots; a little lard and 
a knife will mend a canoe stove in utterly. 
222 



CANOES 

In selecting a birch bark canoe the most selection 
important thing to look after is to see that 

Bark 

the bottom is all one piece without project- 
ing knots or mended cracks. Many canoes 
have bottoms made of two pieces. These 
when grounded almost invariably spring 
aleak at the seam, for the simple reason that 
it takes very little to scrape off the slightly 
projecting gum. On the other hand, a bot- 
tom of one good piece of bark will stand an 
extraordinary amount of raking and bump- 
ing without being any the worse. If in 
addition you can get hold of one made of 
the winter cut of bark, the outside shell will 
be as good as possible. Try to purchase a 
new canoe. Should this be impossible, look 
well to the watap, or roots, used in the 
sewing, that they are not frayed or burst. 
The frames should lie so close together 
as fairly to touch. Such a canoe, "two 
fathoms," will carry two men and four hun- 
dred pounds besides. It will weigh about 
fifty to seventy pounds, and should cost new 
from six to eight dollars. 
223 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

A wooden canoe, of some sort, is perhaps 

Cedar and 

Basswood better for all smooth and open-water sail- 
ing, and all short trips nearer home. It will 
stand a great deal of jamming about, but is 
very difficult to mend if ever you do punch 
a hole in it. You will need to buy a longer 
craft than when getting a birch. The latter 
will run from twelve to fourteen feet. A 
wood canoe of that length would float gun- 
whale awash at half you would wish to carry. 
Seventeen or eighteen feet is small enough 
for two men, although I have cruised in 
smaller. Cedar is the lighter material — 
and the more expensive — but splits too read- 
ily. Basswood is heavier, but is cheaper and 
tougher. 

The folding 1 canvas boat is an abomina- 
The . 

Folding tion. It is useful only as a craft from which 

to fish in an inaccessible spot. Sooner or 

later it sags and gives, and so becomes logy. 

A canoe is made, however, and much used 

Covered by the Hudson's Bay Company, exactly on 

the frame of a birch bark, but covered with 

tightly stretched and painted canvas. It is 

224 



CANOES 

a first-rate craft, combining an approach to 
the lightness of the birch bark with the 
sweeter lines of the wooden canoe. All ordi- 
nary small tears in its bottom are easily- 
patched by the gum method. Its only in- 
feriority to the birch rests in the facts that it 
is more easily torn; that a major accident, 
such as the smashing of an entire bow, can- 
not be as readily mended; and that it will 
not carry quite so great a weight. All in 
all, however, it is a good and serviceable 
canoe. 

In portaging, I have always had pretty Portaging 
good luck with the primitive Indian fash- 
ion — the two paddles lengthwise across the 
thwarts and resting on the shoulders, with 
perhaps a sweater or other padding to re- 
lieve the pressure. It is possible, however, 
to buy cushions which just fit, and on which 
you can kneel while paddling, and also a 
regular harness to distribute the weight. I 
should think they might be very good, and 
would certainly be no trouble to carry. Only 
that makes one more thing to look after, 
225 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

and the job can perfectly well be done with- 
out. 
Paddies The Indian paddle is a very long and 
very narrow blade, just as long as the height 
of its wielder. For use in swift and some- 
what shallow water, where often the paddle 
must be thrust violently against the bottom 
or a rock, this form is undoubtedly the best. 
In more open, or smoother water, however, 
the broader and shorter blade is better, 
though even in the latter case it is well to 
select one of medium length. Otherwise you 
will find yourself, in a heavy sea, sometimes 
reaching rather frantically down toward the 
water. Whatever its length, attach it to the 
thwart nearest you by a light strong line. 
Then if you should go overboard you will 
retain control of your craft. I once swam 
over a mile before I was able to overtake a 
light canoe carried forward by a lively wind. 
On any trip wherein you may have to work 
your way back against the current, you must 
carry an iron "shoe" to fit on a setting pole. 
Any blacksmith can make you one. Have 
226 



CANOES 

it constructed with nail holes. Then when 
you want a setting pole, you can cut one in 
the woods, and nail to it your iron shoe. 

The harness for packs is varied enough, 
but the principle remains simple. A light 
pack will hang well enough from the shoul- 
ders, but when any weight is to be negotiated 
you must call into play the powerful mus- 
cles lying along the neck. Therefore, in 
general, an ordinary knapsack will answer 
very well for packs up to say thirty pounds. 
Get the straps broad and soft ; see that they 
are both sewed and riveted. 

When, however, your pack mounts to TumpiL 
above thirty pounds you will need some sort 
of strap to pass across the top of your head. 
This is known as a tumpline, and consists 
of a band of leather to cross the head, and 
two long thongs to secure the pack. The 
blanket or similar cloth is spread, the thongs 
laid lengthwise about a foot from either 
edge, and the blanket folded inward and 
across the thongs. The things to be carried 
are laid on the end of the blanket toward the 
227 



How to 
Carry Packs 



CAMP AND TRAIL 

head piece. The other end of the blanket, 
from the folds of which the ends of the 
thongs are protruding, is then laid up over 
the pile. The ends of the thongs are then 
pulled tight, tied together, and passed 
around the middle of the pack. To carry 




Tumplines. 

this outfit with any degree of comfort, be 
sure to get it low, fairly in the small of the 
back or even just above the hips. A com- 
pact and heavy article, such as a sack of 
flour, is a much simpler matter. The thongs 
are tied together at a suitable distance. One 
side of the loop thus formed goes around 
228 



CANOES 

your head, and the other around the sack of 
flour. It will not slip. 

By far the best and most comfortable H " 
pack outfit I have used is a combination of the 
shoulder and the head methods. It consists 
of shoulder harness like that used on knap- 
sacks, with two long straps and buckles to 
pass around and secure any load. A tump- 
line is attached to the top of the knapsack 
straps. I have carried in this contrivance 
over a hundred pounds without discomfort. 
Suitable adjustment of the headstrap will 
permit you to relieve alternately your neck 
and shoulders. Heavy or rather compact 
articles can be included in the straps, while 
the bulkier affairs will rest very well on top 
of the pack. It is made by Abercrombie & 
Fitch, and costs two dollars and seventy-five 
cents. 



-229 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Agate Ware, 98 
Alertness, 10 
Aluminum, 98 
Aparejos, 156 
Axes, 92 

Bacon, 118 

How to Cook, 136 
Bags, Duffle, 72 
Food, 105 

Saddle, 153 
Bakers, 102 

Dutch Oven, 102 

Reflector, 103 
Baking Powder, 120 
Basswood Canoes, 224 
Beans, 124 

How to Cook, 143 
Birch Bark Canoes, 221 
Biscuits, 137 

How to Make, 137 
Blankets, Saddle, 153 

How to Use, 87 

Rubber, 87 
Boots, 50 

Waterproof, 50 

Rubber, 52 

The Putman, 51, 52 

The Cutter, 51 
Bread, 136 

Corn, 137 

How to Make, 136 

Unleavened, 137 
Bridles, 153 
Britten Fire Irons. 107 
Britten Saddle Rigging, 158 
Bucking Hitch, 184 
Burros, 203 
Butter, 124 



Canned Goods, 125 

Corn, 126 

Peas, 126 

Tomatoes, 126 

Fruits, 126 

Salmon, 126 

Picnic Stuff, 126 

Corned Beef, 127 

Eggs, 127 
Canoes, 221 

Birch Bark, 221 

Cedar, 224 

Basswood, 224 

Canvas, 224 

How to Portage, 225 

Paddles, 226 

Poles, 226 
Canvas Canoe, 224 
Cedar Canoe, 224 
Cereals, 121 
Chaparejos, 57 
Cinches, 157 
Cinch Hooks, 163 
Coats, 23, 24; 37 
Coffee, 120 

How to Make, 141 
Compasses, 67 
Compressed Soups, 128-130 
Condiments, 123 
Cookery, Secret of Camp, 135 
Cooking Materials, 97 

Tin, 97 

Sheet Iron, 98 

Agate Ware, 98 

Iron, 98 

Aluminum, 98 
Cornmeal, 118 
Corn, Canned, 126 

How to Cook, 143 



233 



INDEX 



Corn Beef, Canned, 126 
Cornbread, 137 
Corn Pone, How to Make, 138 
Cottolene, 121 

Diamond Hitch, 174 
Dingbats, Patent, 27 
Direction, Sense of, 3 
Discipline, 11 

Horrible Example of Lack of, 
12 
Dried Fruits, 122 
Duffle Bags, 72 
Dutch Oven, 102 

Eggs, Canned, 127 

How to Pack, 196 
Elimination, 24 
Erbswurst, 128 
Essentials, 25 

Fire Arms, 106 
Fire Inspirator, 108 

How to Use, 109 
Flapjohn, How to Make, 138 
Flour, 118 

Pancake, 1 18 

Boston Brown Bread, 118 
Fly Dopes, 75 
Food Bags, 105 

Food, Necessity of Variety, 115 
Footwear, The Ideal, 46 
Fruit, Dried, 122 

Canned, 126 

Gauntlets, 58 
Gloves, 57 



Hitches — Continued 

The Single Diamond, 174 

The Double Diamond, 180 

The Square, 182 

The Bucking, 184 

The Miner's, 185 

The Lone Packer, 187 

The Squaw, 190 

The Sling, 192 

The Saddle, 194 

The Tie, 198 
Hobbles, 164 

Should be Lined, 165 

Side Lines, 166 

How to Make, 166 
Hobnails, 47-50 
Horses, How to Choose, 205 

Gun Shyness of, 209 

Qualifications of, 211 

What They Should Carry, 212 

How Far to Travel, 214 

When Hill Climbing, 216 

Unsaddling of, 217 

How to Pick up Feet of, 217 

How to Mount Bad, 218 
Horse Outfits, 149 
Horse Packs, 169 

The Philosophy of, 170 

The Top, 172 

Inspirator, Logan Fire, 108 

How to Use, 109 
Iron Cooking Materials, 98 
Irons, Fire, 106 

The Britten Fire, 107 

Jam Hitch, 172 



Ham, 118 
Hardtack, 124 

How to Cook, 143 
Harness Pack, 229 
Hatchets, 91 
Hats, 35 

The Stetson, 36 
Hitches, 172 

The Jam, 172 

The Diamond, 174 



Kerchiefs, 37 
Khaki, 44 
Knapsacks 227 
Kyacks, 160 

Rawhide, 161 

Canvas, 161 

How to Pack, 171 



Lanterns, 91 
Lard, 121 



234 



INDEX 



Lash Ropes, 162 
Logan Fire Inspirator, 106 
Lone Packer Hitch, 187 
Luxuries, 116, 117 

Macaroni, 125 

How to Cook, 143 
Matches, 63 
Match Safes, 64 
Medicines, 74 
Milk, 123 

Powder, 123 
Miner's Hitch, 185 
Moccasins, 47 

Deerhide, 54 

Moosehide, 54 

Shoe Pac, 54 
Mules, Riding, 203 

Pack, 204 
Mush, How to Make, 142 

Olive Oil, 121 
Onions, 120 
Outfits, Horse, 149 

Pack, 155 
Outfits, Made-up, 100 

Two-man, 101 
Overalls, 43 
Oven, Dutch, 102 
Overburdening, 23 

Pack Harness, 229 
Packs, Horse, 169 

Top Horse, 172 
Pack Outfits, 155 

Saddles, 155 
Pack-rig Saddle, 159 
Paddles, 226 
Pads, Saddle, 156 
Pails, 89 

Pantasote Coats, 55 
Patent Dingbats, 27 
Peas, Canned, 126 
Picket Ropes, 163 
Picnic Stuff, Canned, 126 
Pillows, 89 
Pistols, 69 
Poles, Canoe, 226 



Ponchos, 56 

Potatoes, 120 

Puddings, How to Make, 138 

Quilts, 88 
Quirts, 153 

Razors, 74 

To Keep from Rusting, 74 
Reflectors, 103 
Repair Kit, 92 
Revolvers, 70 
Riata, Rawhide, 154 
Rice, 119 
Rifles, 68 

Rigging, Saddle, 157 
Ropes, Lash, 162 

Picket, 163 

Mexican Grass, 154 
Rubber Blankets, 52 

Sacks, 45 
Saddle Bags, 153 

Blankets, 153 
Saddle Hitch, 194 

Bags, 153 

Pads, 157 

Rigging, 157 

Rigging Britten, 158 

Pack Rig, 159 
Saddles, Pack, 155 

Riding, 149 

Sawbuck, 150 
Salmon, Canned, 126 
Scabbards, 154 

Sheet Iron Cooking Materials, 98 
Shirts, 39 

Buckskin, 38 
Shoe Pac, 53 
Shot Guns, 71 
Sleeping Bags, 87 
Slickers, 56 
Slings, 192 
Sling Shot, 153 
Soap, Towels, etc., 110 
Soups, Compressed, 128-130 

Erbswurst, 128 
Spurs, 154 



235 



INDEX 



Square Hitch, 182 
Squaw Hitch, 190 
Stirrups, 151 
Stirrup Leathers, 150 
Sugar, 120 

Tablets, 121 
Syrup", 123 
Sweaters, 38 

Table Utensils, 99 
Tapioca, 119 
Tarpaulins, 85 
Tea, 120 
Tents, 79 

Proper Shape for, 82 

"A" or Wedge, 84 
Thoroughness, Importance of, 6 
Tie Hitch, 198 



Tin Cooking Materials, 97 
Toilet Articles, 73 
Tomatoes, 126 
Towels, Soap, etc., 110 
Trousers, 43 
Tump Lines, 227 

Underclothes, 40 

Jaeger, 42 

Should be Wool, 41 
Utensils for Table, 99 

Waistcoats, 54 
Washing, How to Do, 42 
Wash Basins, 90 

Tubs, 90 
Waterproofs, 55 
Woodcraft, Logic of, 30 



236 



